Category Archives: Economy

What Is the Fed’s Next Move?

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDcpi The retail Consumer Price Index rose from essentially zero in May 2020 to 8.9 percent YoY in June 2022. It has dropped to 6 percent in February, per the US Census Bureau’s latest inflation report. This … Continue reading →

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Will the Fed Pause Rates Sooner?

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch February’s very strong unemployment report has raised fears the Fed may go back to 0.50 percent rate hikes, or even 0.75 percent (which it did four times), because of the continuing strength of the labor market. … Continue reading →

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The Fed May Cause Another Recession

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs EPI.org A headline reporting on Fed Chairman Powell’s latest testimony to congress said the Fed will battle inflation until it is subdued, sounding more hawkish because January numbers for retail spending, employment and inflation were stronger than expected. … Continue reading →

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Housing Market Is Recovering

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Census.gov Real estate is the industry most affected by rising interest rates, so it’s encouraging to see that housing sales are showing signs of a revival. Both new-home and pending home sales jumped in January, even with … Continue reading →

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Chapter Eleven – Building a Livable Community

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Old Town’s Revival In revitalizing Goleta’s Old Town District, we realized our efforts might apply to a livable city as well.  As recently as 2005, the Institute of American Architects defined such a community as. . . “broadly speaking, a livable community … Continue reading →

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Consumer Incomes/Sentiment Still Rising

Posted on February 25, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs BEA.gov January consumer spending rose 1.8 percent (orange bar in graph) in a month, while personal incomes rose 0.6 percent in the BEA’s latest personal income (PCE) report out Friday. This is one more headache for the Fed … Continue reading →

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Q4 Growth Continues

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

BEAgdp Last year is ending in better shape than it began. Instead of shrinking in the first two quarters of 2022, US GDP growth has turned positive in Q3 and Q4, as portrayed in the above graph of real, or … Continue reading →

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Will It Be a Soft Landing?

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner There is a growing optimism Jerome Powell’s Fed can engineer a so-called soft landing with its restrictive monetary policies, which means avoid an outright recession. Why? First quarter 2023 GDP growth is predicted to be positive following … Continue reading →

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Retail Sales Show Rising Abundance

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDretailsales Now we have retail sales also surging in January, on the heels of a terrific unemployment report and Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate of higher first quarter economic growth. Retail sales that make up half of consumer … Continue reading →

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New Year GDP Looking Better

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs AtlantaFedGDPNow Because of January’s gangbusters unemployment report of 517,000 new payroll jobs and the unemployment rate decline to an all-time low of 3.4 percent, consensus is growing that the US may avoid a recession. One indicator of a … Continue reading →

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