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

August producer prices largely a reflection of volatile food and energy prices

– by New Deal democrat Consumer price inflation will be reported tomorrow. In the meantime, this morning producer prices for August were reported. Normally I don’t pay too much attention to producer prices – and I won’t this month, either. But let me put that in some context. In the past, when producer prices have outstripped […]

The “gold standard” QCEW suggests there may have been no growth at all in jobs so far this year

 – by New Deal democrat The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for Q1 of this year was released this morning. Perhaps more importantly, the numbers for last year were finalized. This forms the “preliminary benchmark” for the actual reported changes to payrolls over that period which will show up in next February’s report for […]

Scenes from the no good, rotten, terrible, and abysmal August jobs report

 – by New Deal democrat Let’s take a more in-depth look at the leading indicators for the economy in Friday’s abysmal employment report. As shown in the graph below, employment in goods has historically turned down first; indeed, in some recessions employment in services doesn’t turn negative YoY at all: Which is a shorthand way of […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators September 1- 5

 – by New Deal democrat My latest “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. The high frequency data continues to be buoyed by financial indicators as well as consumer spending, despite the weakness we saw in, among other things, Friday’s employment report. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the virtual […]

Economically weighted ISM headline and new orders indexes back into weak expansion

 – by New Deal democrat The regional Fed August indexes, including both manufacturing and general business activity, rebounded sharply, telegraphing that a rebound was also likely in the ISM indexes. On Tuesday, the ISM manufacturing index rose slightly. This morning the ISM services index increased sharply. To wit, the headline number increased to 52.0, while the […]

August jobs report: “Recession Watch”

A more detailed Jobs Report analysis by New Deal democrat. New Deal democrat was in Phoenix a while back. He let me know and we were able to meet at the Pomo Pizzeria on 1st Street. Great place to meet a friend or take your wife. The crowd is casual in dress. Good pizza too! […]

Jobless claims revert to neutral

 – by New Deal democrat In the last few weeks, there has been speculation that jobless claims may have been affected by the jihad against immigrants, the theory being enough were being deported or else were simply afraid to report to work that the number of jobless claims was held down. But I suspected it might […]

The “soft landing” scenario in the JOLTS report remains intact

 – by New Deal democrat In contrast to much other data in the jobs sector, the JOLTS reports have been very much consistent with a “soft landing scenario,” and that trend continued in this morning’s report for July. As a quick refresher, this survey decomposes the employment market into openings, hires, quits, and layoffs. So to […]

ISM manufacturing confirms rebound in new orders in August, but construction spending continues to decline

 – by New Deal democrat As usual, the new month begins with important manufacturing and construction reports which give us the pulse of the goods-producing economy. The ISM manufacturing report has been a recognized leading indicator for the past 60+ years, although of diminished importance since the turn of the Millennium and China’s accession to […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators August 25 – 29

Weekly Indicators for August 25 – 29 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat  My “Weekly Indictors” post is up at Seeking Alpha. The most significant benefit of these high frequency indicators is to alert you of possible changes in trend that are unexpected. In the case of the past several weeks, that would be the […]