Tag Archives: consumer confidence
Why Are Consumers So Unhappy?
Popular Economics Weekly It shouldn’t be a secret, by now. Consumers are unhappy. And it’s not because we are too busy paying down our debts. It’s really because no one in Washington has been focusing on job creation—at least since … Continue reading
Fourth Quarter Economic Growth Higher
Popular Economics Weekly We are seeing a boost in Q4 economic growth, in spite of “fiscal cliff” worries. Service sector growth has increased significantly, job formation is accelerating, and real estate is coming back to life, thanks mostly to more … Continue reading
National Home Prices (Finally) Recovering
The Mortgage Corner Is the end of the housing bust in sight? The Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported the fourth consecutive year-over-year (YoY) gain in their house price indexes since 2010 – and the increase back in 2010 was related … Continue reading
More Jobs Equals Happier Consumers
Popular Economics Weekly It is not secret by now that whoever convinces the majority they are the best jobs creator will win the Presidential election. Today’s 171,000 payroll increase with upward revisions for the past 2 months may tilt things … Continue reading
Jobs Picture Much Better Than Forecast
Popular Economics Weekly The Bureau of Labor Statistics gave markets a shot of good news recently, when it revised the one year March-to-March 2012 jobs totals upward by 32,000 per month. This was huge and showed much better jobs growth … Continue reading
Consumer Spending Continues to Improve
FINANCIAL FAQs The most recent retail sales show consumers continue to spend, as consumer borrowing is increasing. Add to that credit card delinquencies are at an 18-year low, according to credit reporting company Transunion Corp., and we have a picture … Continue reading
Consumers Are Doing Fine
Financial FAQs Consumers seem to be doing fine, in spite of their worries about jobs in the latest University of Michigan sentiment survey, the economy and budget deficits (their own more than governments’). June average hourly earnings improved to a … Continue reading
What Do the Latest Jobs Numbers Mean?
Financial FAQs The May employment report showed the economy slowing, but pundits may be jumping to conclusions. For though the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in May from 8.1 percent the prior month, that was because 642,000 more began … Continue reading
Why the Surprising Jobs Report?
Financial FAQs Why so much surprise in January’s employment report that added 243,000 payroll jobs and dropped the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent? The U.S. has now added an average of 183,000 jobs a month in the past five months, … Continue reading
Fair Play Benefits All of Us
The Popular Economics Weekly The idea of fair play may be the key issue in 2012—both with the Presidential campaign and economic growth. How so? Both political parties are jockeying to portray their message as fair—Democrats want to restore the … Continue reading
