Category Archives: Economy

Why So Much Income Inequality?

Answering Kennedy’s Call FREDcpi President Biden hopes to pass the largest piece of social legislation since the New Deal with his upcoming $3.5 trillion social infrastructure bill. But he is finding lots of opposition to such public spending. The NY … Continue reading

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Strong Retail Sales Show Good Q3 Growth

Popular Economics Weekly FRED/Calculated Risk Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased 0.7 percent in a month, and 15.1 percent above August 2020, per the US Census Bureau estimate, which is a sign that economic growth isn’t faltering due to … Continue reading

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What is Real Inflation?

Financial FAQs FREDcpi “The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.5 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 … Continue reading

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Where are the Job Openings?

Popular Economics Weekly Calculated Risk The number of job openings increased to a series high of 10.9 million on the last business day of July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job openings increased in several industries, with … Continue reading

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A Disappointing Jobs Report

Popular Economics Weekly Calculated Risk When will they come back to work? That is the question economists are asking with the August unemployment report out today. Although the Calculated Risk graph shows how quickly job creation has recovered in comparison … Continue reading

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Strong July Retail Sales

Financial FAQs FREDretailsales The DOW plunged more than 400 points at Tuesday’s opening, because retail sales were “weaker” say the pundits. But it was in large part because of lower new car sales, due to a shortage of computer chips. … Continue reading

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Job Openings At Record High

Popular Economics Weekly Calculated Risk The number of job openings increased to a series high of 10.1 million on the last business day of June (yellow line on CR graph), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Monday. It seems … Continue reading

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Another Strong Jobs Report

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch.com This was another very strong unemployment report by the Bureau of Labor Statisticss (BLS) with 943,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs added in July and most of it in the service industries. Leisure/Hospitality, Government, Education/Health, and Professional/Business … Continue reading

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Can We Have a Soft Landing?

The Mortgage Corner CBO Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in early 2000 convinced GW Bush that he could finance GW’s war on terror without raising taxes by borrowing money at ultra-low interest rates. America’s sovereign debt had AAA credit rating at … Continue reading

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Second Quarter Economic Growth Explodes

Financial FAQs BEA.gov The U.S. economy grew at a blistering pace in the spring and repaired most of the damage caused by the pandemic thanks to widespread coronavirus vaccinations and a nearly full reopening of the economy. The Q2 GDP … Continue reading

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