Tag Archives: US EConomics

Real hourly and aggregate wages update; plus further comments on consumer and producer inflation  – by New Deal democrat Let’s update some inflation-related information. First of all, real hourly wages for non-managerial personnel increased less than 0.1% in April. They are up about 3% from just before the pandemic, and also up a little over 1% since their June low last year: Note the graph above is normed to 100 as of the long-time...

Yellow flag from initial jobless claims turns a little more orangey  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 22,000 to 264,000 last week, while the 4 week average rose 6,000 to 245,250. Continuing claims, with a one week lag, rose 12,000 to 1.813 million: Note that both measures of initial claims are at their highest levels since late 2021. Continuing claims are also at those levels, although slightly down from three weeks ago....

I wish Biden’s advisors had given him some dialogue rebutting McCarthy’s plan for cuts in programs. It is this type of jawboning which make convince some, not all, citizens the need to change their minds. What is the harm, Republicans will bring to the economy over and above what the FED will incur on Labor. Joe Biden’s remarks on the first meeting with Republicans and their holding United States citizens hostage to protect the 1% of the taxpayers...

During last night’s CNN “town hall” fiasco Trump had this to say about the debt ceiling: Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republican lawmakers to let the United States default on its debt if Democrats don’t agree to spending cuts. “I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default,” said Trump, who is again running for president. “And I don’t...

Inflation ex-shelter increasing at 1.0% annualized rate since last June; core inflation with actual house prices only up 3.0% YoY  – by New Deal democrat Two months ago, I “officially” took the position that inflation had been conquered, and that, properly measured, the economy had actually been experiencing deflation since last June. With revisions, the “actual deflation” is no longer the case; but for the second month in a row since then,...

In an effort to slow down the severe recession as well as the persistently high unemployment rate following the 2007-08 Financial Crisis, the government increased federal spending. As a result, the federal debt reached its limit on multiple occasions from 2008 to 2011 which led to a series of increases of the debt limit. In 2011, the Treasury asked for its borrowing capacity to be extended. The 2011 U.S. Debt Ceiling Crisis led to a contentious...

This Hill article was up on Naked Capitalism’s Links this morning. More of the Democrats urging extreme caution in pursuing the 14th Amendment as a solution to a debt limit which is an agreement between parties and not a requirement. One could always print more money to resolve the issue also. Meanwhile, citizens having little political power presently are being held hostage and ultimately will pay a price. 14th Amendment talk on debt limit...

Credit conditions worsen, and likely to worsen further due to Debt Ceiling Debacle II  – by New Deal democrat The Senior Loan Officer Survey, which measures credit on offer by banks, and the demand for credit by their customers, was released yesterday afternoon for Q1, and the news – unsurprisingly – was not good. Credit conditions not only tightened, but they tightened at a higher rate than they had in previous quarters, as about half of...

Factbox: What’s in Republican McCarthy’s debt-limit spending cut package? Reuters, Andy Sullivan. Items Republicans and McCarthy are pushing for in a debt-limit package. The bill would essentially pair $4.5 trillion in spending cuts with a $1.5 trillion increase in the federal debt limit. Republicans are wanting to talk about government borrowing. “What’s in your wallet,” today as one bank loves to ask when it comes to credit cards. Well,...

run75441’s footnote to NDd Weekly Analysis . . . The analysis by NDd is one of the most thorough ones, I read on a weekly basis. It sums up the week casting the numbers for the week in comparison to what is going on economically. What I see happening in the economy, NDd brings to light for free at Seeking Alpha. If there is anyone here more knowledgeable in numbers than I, you should still be rading NDd’s take. The link is in the title. Weekly...