Tag Archives: inflation

The Confused Consumer

Financial FAQs The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence sank to 98.7 this month from a revised 105.6 in August the Conference Board said Tuesday. Consumer confidence dropped in September to near the bottom of the narrow range that has … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Slowing

Financial FAQs Breaking News: The Federal Reserve just announced it’s first rate cut of 0.50%, which lowers its Fed Funds rate from 5.25% to 4.75%. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August 2024, adjusted for seasonal … Continue reading

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Inflation Still in Decline

Popular Economics Weekly The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last 12 months, the all items … Continue reading

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Why No Recession?

Financial FAQs I said last month we know why the US economy is still growing. Consumers keep spending, and the unemployment rate, though rising, is just 4.2 percent. The second revision of second quarter economic growth confirms this as well, … Continue reading

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U.S. Economy Has Landed

Popular Economics Weekly GETTY It’s about time. Fed Chairman Powell has finally admitted in so many words that the U.S. economy made a ‘soft landing’; economists’ term for inflation to have declined sufficiently that the Fed can begin to ease … Continue reading

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Consumers Are Still Solvent?

Popular Economics Weekly FREDretailfoodservices My recent blogs have been questioning how long consumers can keep shopping for good reason; their debts have been piling up, which seems to mean they have been able to borrow enough to stay in the … Continue reading

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Plenty of Available Jobs!

Financial FAQs As a precursor to July’s unemployment report, the Labor Department’s JOLTS report that measures the number of job openings—jobs waiting to be filled—has just come out. The number of openings is still the highest in decades, per the … Continue reading

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Much Improved Q2 Economic Growth

Financial FAQs Today’s second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 2.8 percent, double first quarter’s 1.4 percent, which will give a huge boost to confidence that no recession is imminent, but also enough ammunition for the inflation hawks that say … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Falter

The Mortgage Corner Fed Chair Powell has said it again. Second-quarter economic data including last week’s consumer price report “do add somewhat” to confidence that inflation is heading down to the central bank’s 2 percent goal at an Economic Club … Continue reading

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Prices Are Falling!

Popular Economics Weekly Today could be historic for inflation watchers. It’s the first time since July 2022 that retail prices as measured by the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) have declined. It will be history making and effect the financial … Continue reading

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