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

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for October 30 – November 3

Weekly Indicators for October 30 – November 3 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. One way I keep track of the producer side of the economy is via the long leading indicator of corporate profits and the short leading indicator of the stock market. As […]

October jobs report: more deceleration, in the weakest report (except for June’s) since March 2021

New Deal democrat’s October Jobs report is again featured at Angry Bear. You can also pick-up the September 2023 Jobs Report from the link at the end of this report. This is the most complete monthly review on Unemployment Rate, average hourly earnings (minus management), which way job growth or decline is going, and a […]

Freight and people shouldn’t mix on the roads

I agree with Lloyd’s dad Gabe and also Lloyd. Big trucks including construction vehicles exceed the speed limit. Their weight does not enable them to stop in short distances. The results of a collision with automobiles is catastrophic with people in cars being seriously injured or dying. The volumes being moved long distances are better […]

Initial Jobless claims: were the recent lows just unresolved seasonality after all?

Initial claims: were the recent lows just unresolved seasonality after all?  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to a 7 week high of 217,000 this week. The 4 week moving average rose 2,000 to 210,000 from its 9 month low of 208,000 last week. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims […]

Financial Engineering’s Impact on Hospitals and Healthcare Delivery

This is a smaller version of a larger article in The Atlantic. I believe I have captured all of the issues needing to be presented. A hospital’s delivery of healthcare is more than just profit-taking to which the big firms invest their money. With the involvement of private equity firms buying up hospital chains, the […]

September JOLTS report shows continued deceleration in all trends – except layoffs

September JOLTS report shows continued deceleration in all trends – except layoffs  – by New Deal democrat All of the major metrics in last month’s JOLTS report for August improved, most slightly, but the decelerating trend continued. In this morning’s report for September, that trend continued, as most of the metrics improved or declined very […]

The new month of data begins: residential construction positive, job openings negative, and manufacturing mixed

The new month of data begins: residential construction positive, job openings negative, and manufacturing mixed  – by New Deal democrat As usual, the monthly data started out with reports on the two most important production sectors of the economy, namely manufacturing (for October) and construction (for September). Additionally, the JOLTS jobs survey for September was […]

Medical Debt Is Killing Patients who Deny Costly Healthcare

Emergency Physician and Pennsylvania state representative Arvind Venkat, MD has a detail story to tell about the impact of healthcare upon patients who can not afford the insurance, or are under insured, and opt to deny healthcare. And most can not afford the payments resulting from Medical Debt. This is a good plan and the […]

House resale price indexes confirm upturn in prices for existing homes, but do not negate combined price declines

House resale price indexes confirm upturn in prices for existing homes, but do not negate combined price declines  – by New Deal democrat We got more price information about the very important housing market this morning. Through September, the median price of home resales as measured by Case Shiller increased 0.9% monthly. For the FHFA […]

OEMs Pulling Back from EVs?

I rewrote portions of this article and added information from my own experiences in Automotive when new technology is introduced. My experience is not as great when compared to the introduction of EVs. However, it does come close enough to understand what is going on with the industry. Anyways, onwards. As taken from: GM Says […]