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

Railroad unions are winning paid sick leave for workers

From December 2022, Angry Bear has been covering parts of the railroad workers efforts to achieve better conditions for conductors’ engineers and labor in general. It appears all of the work by the union is coming to pass. Railroad unions are winning paid sick leave for workers, The Stand, July 11, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. (July […]

Gasoline Standards Cuts For Gas Guzzlers Start in 2027

Typically, what happens with these types of regulations is delay for another 2 to five years before becoming active. This may occur. The other likelihood being the automakers going to court suing for a delay or a ruling on constitutionality. SCOTUS could again decide Congress can only make regulations and this capability was not delegated […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indictors for July 31-Aug 4

Weekly Indicators for July 31 – August 4, and long term forecast through H1 2024 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. No big changes in the data, but note that mortgage and other interest rates are up close to their peaks. This will operate to slow […]

July jobs report: almost across the board deterioration in leading sectors

July jobs report: almost across the board deterioration in leading sectors  – by New Deal democrat My focus remains on whether jobs growth continues to decelerate, and whether the leading indicators, particularly manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as the unemployment rate (which leads going into recessions) have meaningfully deteriorated. Almost all of these items […]

GDP: Soaring Structure Investment Makes Up for Slowing Consumption, as GDP Grows at 2.4 Percent in Q2

Some Points . . . Healthcare services slight increases as a share of total consumer spending in the quarter, rising from 15.9 percent to 16.0 percent of total consumption and down from 17+ percent. Hopes are healthcare stays at that rate. Structure investment increases at a 9.7 percent annual rate after growing at a 15.8 […]

Jobless claims: a good example of why my forecasting discipline demands a confirmed trend

Jobless claims: a good example of why my forecasting discipline demands a confirmed trend  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims for the last week of July rose 6,000 to 227,000. The 4 week average decreased -5,500 to 228,250. Continuing claims, with a one week lag, rose 21,000 to 1.7 million: The YoY% change […]

Open Thread August 3, 2023 Climate v Economy

Survey (NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist) finds 53% of Americans think addressing climate crisis should be given priority and 72% of Republicans say the economy should be. June and July were, by many measures, the hottest such months on record. Wildfires are raging across the world, in the US notably in California and Nevada. Smoke from fires in Canada has blotted […]

June’s JOLTS report: slow progress towards a new equilibrium

June’s JOLTS report: slow progress towards a new equilibrium  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday’s JOLTS report for June captured a labor market that continues to move towards a new equilibrium, mainly via a gradual decline in job openings compared with labor availability. In other words, for the umpteenth time, “deceleration.” Job openings and actual hires […]

DeSantis unveils economic plan, aim to ease process for discharging student loans through bankruptcy

This article came by way of Dale Coberly. In particular, Dale thought making student loans the responsibility of universities rather than students was enlightening. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a new economic plan Monday as part of his 2024 presidential bid that includes a goal of easing the path for student loans to be discharged […]

Manufacturing and construction give very mixed signals to start Second Half 2023 data

Manufacturing and construction give very mixed signals to start Second Half 2023 data  – by New Deal democrat As usual, the month’s data started out with the ISM manufacturing report for last month, and construction spending for the month before last. Additionally, I am going to take a look at motor vehicle production, because I […]