Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Real aggregate payrolls rise to new high as CPI ex-shelter continues somnolent

Real aggregate payrolls rise to new high as CPI ex-shelter continues somnolent  – by New Deal democrat With few exceptions, the November CPI report once again demonstrated how important fictitious shelter is to its calculation, as well as how important the inflection point of $5 gas in June 2022 has been. Headline inflation rose only […]

Scenes from the leading sectors of the November jobs report: why I sounded a note of caution

Scenes from the leading sectors of the November jobs report: why I sounded a note of caution  – by New Deal democrat I seem to have been something of a negative outlier with respect to last Friday’s jobs report. Not because I was downbeat – although I said there were “warning signs of weakness,” but […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for December 4 – 8 2023

Weekly Indicators for December 4 – 8 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The coincident data keeps getting better and better, while interest rates remain very negative. The question, as it has been for months, is whether those interest rates finally case the short leading […]

November jobs report: signs of considerable strength, but warning signs of considerable weakness as well

November jobs report: signs of considerable strength, but warning signs of considerable weakness as well  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday I wrote that “In tomorrow’s jobs report, my focus will be on whether the data is most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether deceleration has been continuing;” and more […]

Initial claims, Expansion, and Employment

Initial claims continue to forecast expansion; further slight deceleration in employment, unemployment, and wages most likely tomorrow  – by New Deal democrat This morning we had our last look at initial jobless claims before tomorrow’s November jobs report. On a weekly basis, claims rose 1,000 to 221,000. The four week average rose 500 to 220,750. […]

Real consumer spending forecasts continuing jobs deceleration

What is interesting about NDd’s latest is his identifying manufacturing playing “a much smaller role in the total US economy now than it used to in the decades after WW2.” He identifies another factor occurring before the start of a recession. It has become increasingly necessary for spending on services to falter as well. Real […]

October JOLTS report: yet one more month in the ongoing decelerating trend

October JOLTS report: yet one more month in the ongoing decelerating trend  – by New Deal democrat  All of the major metrics in this month’s JOLTS report for October continued to show deceleration. Here are openings (blue), hires (red), and quits (gold), all normed to 100 just before the pandemic: As you can see, at […]

A big increase holds up construction spending in October; and construction spending is holding up the economy

On a YoY basis manufacturing is the star of the show. But note from the historical graph that residential construction previously has turned down first, with manufacturing and other non-residential construction lagging (likely because of long lead times and the extended duration of completing projects). A big increase holds up construction spending in October; and […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for November 27 – December 1 plus ISM Manufacturing

Weekly Indicators for November 27 – December 1 at Seeking Alpha; plus a comment on the ISM manufacturing report  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The coincident data continues quite strong, and the long leading indicators are increasingly “less bad,” which is something that happens when recessions are […]

Ex-housing, PCE inflation, like CPI inflation, is under the Fed’s 2% target

This was posted at 8:03 AM at the Bonddad Blog Thursday. I see other venues having similar reports up also. I am sometimes late in posting NDd’s economic commentaries. Ex-housing, PCE inflation, like CPI inflation, is under the Fed’s 2% target  – by New Deal democrat Note: I may not be around for the ISM […]