Category: Economy

New single-family home sales declined 0.6% in June to a 0.617 million annual rate, lagging the consensus expected 0.640 million. […]

Existing home sales declined 5.4% in June to a 3.890 million annual rate, below the consensus expected 3.980 million.  Sales […]

There are signs US economic growth is slowing down.  In particular, jobless claims, perhaps the best high-frequency economic indicator, have […]

Industrial production increased 0.6% in June (+0.9% including revisions to prior months), easily beating the consensus expected gain of 0.3%. […]

Housing starts rose 3.0% in June to a 1.353 million annual rate, beating the consensus expected 1.305 million.  Starts are […]

Retail sales were unchanged in June (+0.2% including revisions to prior months), beating the consensus expected decline of 0.3%.  Retail […]

The lags between a shift in monetary policy and the economic impact are long and variable.  While the actions of […]

The Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.2% in June, coming in above the consensus expected increase of 0.1%.  Producer prices […]

View from the Observation Deck Companies often return capital to their shareholders through dividend distributions. The practice is so common […]

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 0.1% in June, below the consensus expected +0.1%.  The CPI is up 3.0% from […]

We aren’t naturally cynical about economic data, but there are things that don’t add up about the job market. On […]

Nonfarm payrolls increased 206,000 in June, narrowly beating the consensus expected 190,000.  Payroll gains for April and May were revised […]

The ISM Non-Manufacturing index declined to 48.8 in June, well below the consensus expected 52.7. (Levels above 50 signal expansion; […]

The trade deficit in goods and services came in at $75.1 billion in May, smaller than the consensus expected $76.5 […]

In 1852, Karl Marx said “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they […]