Briefly noted: existing home sales appear to be bottoming near 30 year lows as prices continue to firm – by New Deal democrat Last month I wrote that existing home sales “are likely in the process of bottoming, as they have been in the range of 3.79 million to 4.10 million for the past five months:” […]
Housing construction changes little in December; but increased mortgage rates from H2 2023 have not yet been digested – by New Deal democrat For this post, I’m going to show what the housing market looks like from most to least leading of the indicators. That shows that, although this morning’s release for housing permits and […]
Jobless claims: bar one week, the lowest number of layoffs in over half a century – by New Deal democrat To reiterate my theme from last week, we’re back to the virtuous scenario where almost nobody is getting laid off. Initial jobless claims last week declined -16,000 to 187,000. Except for one week in September […]
Who saved the US from a pandemic and delivered a good economy. The 2024 political cycle, a triumph of recycling. President Biden and former President Trump are preparing to star in a sequel most Americans do not care to see. That means that eyes will be on the vice-president, Kamala Harris, as well. Because Mr […]
Industrial production continues in near-recessionary trajectory – by New Deal democrat In contrast to this morning’s good news on consumption, production continued its lackluster 2023 all the way to the end. Total industrial production (blue in the graph below) increased 0.1% in December, but revisions to the two previous months totaled -0.2%, so the net […]
December real retail sales: the good economic news keeps on coming – by New Deal democrat The good economic news kept coming with this morning’s retail sales report for December. Remember that this is one of my favorite indicators because, adjusted for population, it is a fairly good long leading indicator, and on a short […]
The decline in workers’ share of the total pie is far more extreme than standard measures suggest. Total Income, and the Collapse of the Household Labor Share, Wealth Economics, Steve Roth The best way to start this post is with a graph that many will find surprising, even eye-popping. The graph kind of speaks for […]
This article is kinda long and also along the lines of what I have done since the mid-seventies. I consulted in throughput for a while. Did not much like it as compared to actually doing it. It is a good piece though. This report is twenty years old and things have changed in China. Modernization […]
As taken from “In ‘wild western Licking County,’ rogue builders meeting permit enforcers bent on upholding laws,” msn.com, as written by Alan Miller. The Angry Bear writer has added his own experiences to the article. There are modifications to the original article. With the rapid pace of growth in western Licking County, some commercial builders […]
Weekly Indicators for January 8 – 12 at Seeking Alpha – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. There are almost always a few interesting ripples in the pond. In the past month, notably there has been the sudden collapse in YoY tax withholding payments. I’m not too concerned yet, […]