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

Consumer inflation went to sleep in October-November, driven mainly by a steep deceleration in shelter price increases

 – by New Deal democrat A truncated version of the CPI was reported for November this morning. Since no data was collected for October, the monthly change in those values was not calculated, the Census Bureau apparently having elected not to publish with the cumulative two month changes since September. Nevertheless, the two month numbers are […]

Jobless claims continue to paint a much more positive picture than the unemployment rate

 – by New Deal democrat [Note: An update to my OS the other day has nuked my ability to post graphs. For now, I will post links to FRED graphs that you can access. For this post, I am only using one such link. If I am unable to resolve the problem, drastic action may be […]

Real retail sales contract; depending on inflation report may signal further job losses

– by New Deal democrat [Note: An update to my OS the other day has nuked my ability to post graphs. For now, I will post links to FRED graphs that you can access. If I am unable to resolve the problem, drastic action may be required.] Angry Bear can post the images while NDd […]

Combined October and November jobs report: a hairs-breadth from recessionary, at best

 – by New Deal democrat At Last this morning we got some up to date labor data from the federal government, but only partially. The Establishment Survey was updated for both October and November, while the Household Survey was not conducted at all for October, and so jumps from September to November. In November virtually all […]

What do vehicle miles traveled and gas usage tell us about the economy?

 – by New Deal democrat To be updated by NDd. Today is the last day of our data drought before the onslaught of delayed reports that begins tomorrow with the November jobs report and CPI.  In the meantime, there is a commenter on another economics site who generally believes that everything is OK as along as […]

New Deal democrat’s Weekly Indicators for December 8 – 12

Weekly Indicators for December 8 – 12  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. While there were no significant changes in the ratings, two big stories stand out: (1) the nearly total re-normalization of the yield curve in response to Fed interest rate cuts; and (2) evidence of further deterioration […]

Is Thanksgiving seasonality masking a possible longer term positive regime change in jobless claims?

 – by New Deal democrat This week’s update of initial and continuing jobless claims is a demonstration of two frames of seasonality: one in the immediate term, and one longer term stretching back several years. When we parse them out together, they suggest there may have been somewhat of a regime change that began in July […]

Three important fundamentals-based indicators of the consumer economy: are they turning?

– by New Deal democrat Today is one day of quiet before a slew of updated statistics, including the November jobs and inflation reports, are to be reported next week (it is unclear whether others originally scheduled for next week, like building permits and starts, will also be updated). There was some housing and rental inventory […]

Q3 employment costs: probably the “least positive” since the pandemic

 – by New Deal democrat The employment cost index, which was updated this morning through Q3, typically gets much less attention than the monthly payrolls report. But in this circumstance it is entitled to more notice, since the monthly data has only been posted through September as well. Additionally, one important advantange of the Employment Cost […]

October JOLTS report: red flag warning for employment sector in worst report since the pandemic

– by New Deal democrat This morning’s JOLTS report for October is now the most current official monthly indicator for the jobs sector. And it was emphatically not good. In fact, it was red flag recessionary. In the past year, in contrast to much other data in the jobs sector, the JOLTS reports had been very […]