Monthly Archives: January 2022

Q4 Economic Growth Explodes

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly BEA.gov It looks like the Omicron variant has actually spurred higher growth. The fourth quarter GDP ‘first estimate’ of growth  exploded to 6.9 percent, surpassing most estimates of 5 to 6 percent. GDP got a big lift at … Continue reading →

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Best Home Sales in Years

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Home sales are holding up and prices slowly moderating, even with limited inventories. December new-home sales jumped 12 percent in a year, according to the US Census Bureau. Also in 2021, existing-home sales totaled 6.12 million – … Continue reading →

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Consumers Confident in New Year

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Conference Board Why are consumers confident of their prospects in January with Omicron still infecting so many, according to the Conference Board’s latest Consumer Confidence survey? The Omicron variant may be waning, for starters. As of January 19, 2022, the … Continue reading →

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Will Omicron Slow Economic Growth in 2022?

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly BEA.gov Surprise, surprise, the latest data show that the Omicron variant has done little damage to economic growth. The current predictions for fourth quarter growth are 5-6 percent, more than making up for the 2.3 percent Q3 … Continue reading →

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Retail Sales Stay Strong

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs FREDretailsales Sales at U.S. retailers such as Target and Amazon sank 1.9 percent in December — the biggest drop in 10 months — as the Omicron variant spread like wildfire and shoppers confronted higher prices and shortages of … Continue reading →

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A Softer Landing for Inflation?

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDcpi Will inflation keep rising, squeezing consumers, or return to a more normal range this year? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) that measures retail goods rose to 7.1 percent in December and has forced the Fed to … Continue reading →

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We Are So Close to Full Employment

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch It is uncanny that just 199,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were created in one Labor Department establishment survey, while a separate and smaller household survey showed that 651,000 people found jobs in December after a 1.1 million … Continue reading →

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Are Home Prices Moderating?

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner There are small signs of a slowdown in the rise of housing prices. Core Logic, a real estate data provider, sees some moderation in this New Year. “As we close 2021, housing market indicators, including S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, … Continue reading →

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Hires Increase in November JOLTS Report

Posted on January 4, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings decreased in November to 10.6 million from 11.1 million in October (yellow line in above graph). It’s a sign that more workers are returning to work. So … Continue reading →

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