Tag Archives: economic growth

What Letter Will Describe This Pandemic?

Popular Economics Weekly Conference-board.org The Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey should help to predict the shape of this economic recovery from COVID-19. It’s shape will mirror the degree of “uncertainty” felt by consumers. In the words of Lynn Franco, Senior … Continue reading

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2020—A Year of Living Dangerously

Popular Economics Weekly FRED.gov There is plenty of speculation on the effects of killing Iran’s Quds Force General Qassem Suleimani. Of course the first question is how Iran will retaliate? But terrorist attacks by its proxies, such as by the … Continue reading

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How Much Has US Economy Slowed?

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk It’s a difficult question to answer. We know the US economy is slowing, and the manufacturing activity is already contracting—the first of the four indicators that are used to call a recession—per the ISM’s Manufacturing Diffusion … Continue reading

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Why Are Worry About Low Inflation?

Popular Economics Weekly Reuters.com Almost everyone, including Fed Chair Powell, is worried about the low inflation rate.  It’s usually nearing 4 percent at this late stage of an economic recovery, not the current 2 percent if the US economy were … Continue reading

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Strong May Employment, But Future Uncertain

Popular Economics Weekly Graph: Marketwatch The unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent in May, and the number of unemployed persons declined to 6.1 million, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. Over the year, the unemployment rate was … Continue reading

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What Happens in 2018?

Popular Economics Weekly The New Year will make some people very wealthy—mainly stockholders, corporate execs, and real estate moguls. And as minimum wages begin to rise this year in many cities and states (but not all), those at the lower … Continue reading

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Job Openings Still At Record Level

Popular Economics Weekly The number of job openings rose to 5.5 million on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. It is just below the record high set in July 2015. Hires declined … Continue reading

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211,000 Payroll Jobs Not Enough

Popular Economics Weekly Friday’s unemployment report was disappointing for a number of reasons, mainly because we are not yet close to full employment, and there is no sign of inflation. The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons … Continue reading

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Labor Force Participation Improving

Popular Economics Weekly One lament by Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen and others has been the low labor participation rate of the prime-age workers—those 25 to 54 year-olds that have dropped out of the labor force, or are working part time.  … Continue reading

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