Tag Archives: US EConomics

Michigan has always been in the hunt for new model manufacturing in Michigan. This one pitched by Michigan to GM is nothing new. Just another state buying a company by funding its stay. I can find my records on this, Michigan owes $billions to corporate Michigan. This all started with Governor Engler. Companies are used to it, so now they expect to get it. Read on . . . Automakers’ history of taking fat subsidies and overpromising job growth make...

Repeat sales house price indexes continue to increases on par with past expansions  – by New Deal democrat House prices lag home sales, which in turn lag mortgage rates. Yesterday we got the final January reading on sales. This morning, we got the final monthly (for December) read on prices, for repeat sales of existing homes. The FHFA purchase only price index rose 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis, and is up 6.6% YoY. Meanwhile the Case...

This merger would only make groceries higher in cost. The economies of scale would not be passed along to consumers. Kroger and Albertsons sell hundreds of stores in a bid to clear merger of the 2 largest US groceries, QUARTZ The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons by rival grocer Kroger, alleging the deal would harm American consumers already facing high grocery bills. The FTC says the deal...

Over at jabberwocking.com, Kevin Drum takes on Paul Krugman over his assertion that small-town America is aggrieved because the working-age men are more likely to be unemployed than their metropolitan counterparts. As usual, Kevin brings the charts and numbers to show that while Krugman isn’t wrong, the differences are small and don’t explain “white rural rage.” Kevin notes that while pay is less in rural areas, the difference is mostly compensated...

Renewables 2023, Analysis and forecast to 2028. IEA, Paris Executive Summary I did this before with the IEA. Sent the IEA a few emails establishing what Angry Bear could and could not use. Attributing the analysis I have posted here was one of the requirements. With their permission, I can bring to Angry Bear much of what is going on in the globally in the area of energy. They asked that I do not report on oil as companies pay for the reports....

New home sales and YoY prices change little; expect sideways trend to follow similar recent trend in mortgage rates  – by New Deal democrat This week we conclude January’s housing market data with repeat sales prices tomorrow, and new single family home sales, which were reported this morning. Per my usual caveat, while new home sales is that they are the most leading of the housing metrics, they are noisy and heavily revised. Which was the...

The “gold standard” of employment reports suggests that last summer’s job growth was even weaker than we thought  – by New Deal democrat While the monthly jobs report gets all the headlines, the “gold standard” for actual employment gains and losses is the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which as its name indicates, unlike the payrolls report is not a survey but rather an actual census of about 97% of all employers, via their...

Remember chasing the mosquito man’s truck? silive.com, Cassy Sommer  During the fifties and sixties, it was not unusual to see trucks spraying DDT near heavily wooded and swampy areas. I certainly do not recall kids running behind truck spraying the areas. Some claim this was a common practice. My aunts and mom would have had a fit is we did such. ~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Department of Agriculture was the federal agency with responsibility for...

The bottoming process in existing home sales continues, as YoY price comparisons increase  – by New Deal democrat The bifurcation of the housing market between new and existing home components continues, as existing home sales continue near their bottom, but with a little improvement. Specifically, in January sales increased 120,000 on an annualized basis from an upwardly revised (by 80,000) 3.88 million to 4.00 million. This is the seventh...

The good news on jobless claims continues  – by New Deal democrat The good news on jobless claims continued this week, as initial claims declined -12,000 to 201,000. The four-week moving average also declined, by -3,500 to 215,250. Continuing claims, with the usual one-week delay, declined -27,000 to 1.862 million: Needless to say, this also helped the YoY comparisons, which are more important for forecasting purposes. Initial claims are...