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

Jobless claims still positive for forecasting purposes; the unresolved seasonality issue should be resolved shortly

 – by New Deal democrat This morning’s jobless claims report continued the uptrend we’ve seen for the past month. But it still looks more likely than not that it is mainly unresolved post-pandemic seasonality. We’ll probably get a more definitive answer to that issue in th next several weeks. Initial Jobless claims declined 5,000 for […]

The economy during Biden’s tenure has not been kind to young person’s looking to buy or rent property

 – by New Deal democrat I saw a graph within the past few days (which unfortunately I did not make a copy of) indicating Biden’s polling problems are not against Trump per se so much as they are the failure of Biden to consolidate support among young voters, especially voters of color, vs. Trump’s having […]

Good news on production is overshadowed by the yellow caution flag of flagging real retail sales

 – by New Deal democrat There was good news and not so good news in this morning’s two important data releases.  I’ll start with the good news. Both total industrial production and its manufacturing component increased a sharp 0.9% in May. Even after downward revisions of -0.4% in March and -0.3% in April, both were […]

Immigration and the housing market freeze are making the “last mile” of disinflation harder, not the Phillips Curve

If you look at Part 1 and Part 2 of The Demographic Outlook: 2024 to 2054 CBO projections. The estimation of Net Immigration varies anywhere from 2.7 to 3.3 million to the US in 2024. In Part 1, of CBO’s current estimates, net immigration is larger than the agency estimated last year, by 0.7 million people […]

Post-pandemic Latin American immigration and the unemployment rate

Post-pandemic Latin American immigration and the unemployment rate (and it’s implications for the economy)  – by New Deal democrat One week ago, in analyzing the jobs report, I noted the continuing severe disconnect between the Establishment Survey, which continues to show strong growth, and the Household Survey, which has been downright recessionary. I expanded on […]

Initial jobless claims now in a clear uptrend – but is it unresolved post-pandemic seasonality?

 – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose significantly last week, up 13,000 to 242,000, the highest level since last August. The four-week moving average rose 4,750 to 227,000, the highest level since last September. And with the usual one-week delay, continuing claims rose 30,000 to 1.820 million, the highest since this January: There […]

May CPI continued to be all about shelter

May CPI continued to be all about shelter  – by New Deal democrat Consumer prices in May showed no inflation at all, as a decline in gas prices helped the headline number come in unchanged. YoY inflation decelerated -0.1% to 3.3% – continuing in the narrow 3.0%-3.4% range it has been in for the last […]

What would adjusting the Household jobs Survey for immigration driven population growth do?

 – by New Deal democrat This is a continuation of my post from yesterday discussing the large divergences between the Household and Establishment jobs surveys. A big current issue with the Household Survey is whether, by relying on Census estimates, it has substantially underestimated population growth, and in particular immigration-driven growth, in the past two […]

The recessionary Household Jobs Survey is not confirmed by other comprehensive hard data

 – by New Deal democrat As per usual, the Monday after jobs report Friday does not update any significant data. So let me return to the deep divergence between the Household and Establishment Surveys in the jobs report. With Friday’s data for May, the two have now diverged 1.9% over the past year, adjusted for […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for June 3 – 7 2024

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha.  The stock market was conflicted by yesterday’s jobs report, but the bond market’s verdict was unequivocal: ignore the unemployment rate; it was a strong report which will stay the Fed’s hand from raising rates.  Meanwhile, coincident economic data in particular continues to […]