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

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 […]

Native American child poverty doubled in 2022

This is a combination of two different posts. The first part is by the NCRC, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. It offers up a wealth of detail expressed in numbers defining the issues confounding Native Americans. It is very brief and I would hope you follow the link to a larger array of statistics defining […]

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 […]

Consumer income and spending continued to power ahead in October

Despite a few soft spots, consumer income and spending continued to power ahead in October  – by New Deal democrat The monthly personal income and spending report is along with the jobs report, one of the two most important coincident metrics for the entire economy, because it is a fairly comprehensive look at the consumer […]

A new rule that would grant exemptions on swap trades

Here we are agin, trying to make it easier to trade derivatives. Never mind the lessons we thought we learned when Goldman Sachs called on AIG to ante up. There were little in reserve for the swaps and AIG was ready to collapse. Congress and the Fed (or reverse) saved them and the economy. The […]

Despite the continuing elevation of continued claims, initial claims signal continued expansion

Despite the continued elevation of continued claims, initial claims signal continued expansion  – by New Deal democrat I’ll comment on personal income and spending later this morning, but let’s start out with our weekly update on jobless claims. Initial claims rose 7,000 to 218,000, while the 4 week average declined -500 to 220,000. With a […]

In-Box Topics which May Be of Interest

Evey day, I get an array of emails in my In-Box offering up articles or what they think can be interesting reads. I would definitely read Economist David Zetland student’s writings on water shortages in other countries. Most Interesting Read Economist David Zetland’s Students Studying the Impact of Water Shortage in Europe, The one-handed economist, […]

Forecasting a further upturn in the unemployment rate: what works?

Forecasting a further upturn in the unemployment rate: what works?  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday I read a post over at Seeking Alpha in which the author confidently predicted a recession in Q1 next year, based exclusively on the NAHB builder sentiment index. Here’s his accompanying graph, comparing builder sentiment with the unemployment rate […]

Electricity Statistics by Month and Overall – United States

AB: IEA will not allow me to change any wording. Anything in italics or leads with an AB in front is my wording. I believe the following (charts and brief summation) to be a good explanation of where the US stands at far as changes in energy and usage. A little background concerning our home. […]