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

Initial jobless claims confirmatory of continued expansion

Initial jobless claims confirmatory of continued expansion  – by New Deal democrat Initial claims continue at their very low level, declining -9,000 to 218,000 last week.  The four-week moving average rose 3,750 to 212,250. With the usual one-week lag, continuing claims declined -23,000 to 1.871 million: For forecasting purposes the YoY% change is more important. […]

Take the Medical Profession and Healthcare Back from Corporate Interests

Shot an email off to Kip Sullivan to see what he was up to with Medicare. He returned my email with a copy of a letter he wrote Much going on in this letter I was not aware of and am assuming many other are not aware of either. Still they persist in corporatizing Medicare […]

Why does the GOP hate capitalism?

From a comment thread over at jabberwocking.com: “The walls are more a sign of desperation than power. A better way is to fix Central America so there is a larger buffer between the US and the problems in South America. Fixing includes making conditions in the continent prosperous enough for all that we don’t have […]

Swiss healthcare costs rise steeply

I guess the US is not the only place having issues with the rising costs of healthcare. Swiss healthcare is rising at a faster rate also. However, I suspect Switzerland has greater control over those costs than the US does. However, the industry is attempting to pass along higher costs. The cost of compulsory health […]

Report revisions changes the picture in the January Establishment Survey

Scenes from the January jobs report: revisions changed the picture in the Establishment Survey  – by New Deal democrat Last Friday’s jobs report contained a number of annual revisions which change what the trend line for the last year looks like. Particularly the extent to which there has been continued deceleration, or even a downturn, […]

January Growth in Jobs and Wages

Job and Wage Growth Surge in January Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker I believe this report by Dean Baker to be a bit premature. If you are keeping up with New Deal democrat, he cites reasons why this still can go either way at this point. One reason is the Fed’s foot […]

Low Income Consumers are Having It Their Way

McDonald’s wants to win back low-income consumers, Laura Bratton @ QUARTZ US customers making less than $45,000 stayed away in 2023. That could continue this year, executive says . . . McDonald’s chief financial officer Ian Borden told investors Monday (Feb. 5) that he’s looking for ways to win back the low-income customers the company lost […]

The Senior Loan Officer Survey makes an important turn

The Senior Loan Officer Survey makes an important turn   – by New Deal democrat The Senior Loan Officer Survey is a long leading indicator, telling us about credit conditions that typically turn worse a year or more before the economy turns down, and improve just at the economy is ready to turn up. The one […]

Open Thread February 6 2024 “hard to find jobs right now even with low unemployment”

Employers’ hiring rate fell sharply in 2023, Zhao said. And workers are quitting less. Fewer people are changing jobs. Business Insider. And Jobs are hard to find even with low Unemployment. Open Thread February 2 2024 federal judge tosses disinformation superspreader Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawsuit, Angry Bear

GAO: Food Prices: Information on Trends, Factors, and Federal Roles

This is a good recital by the GAO on Food Prices, its trends, factors affecting it, and how the government plays a role in it. It covers quite a bit of territory on costs and prices pre-2021 and 2021 to 2022. It was those two years when Covid was having an impact on the nation […]