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

Manufacturing sector continues to be on fire; but real construction spending plunges

Manufacturing sector continues to be on fire; but real construction spending plunges August data started out mixed.  The ISM manufacturing index continued to show strong expansion. Both the overall and new orders components declined slightly m/m, but at 59.5 and 64.9 remained far about the breakeven point between expansion and contractions of 50.0: The simplest […]

September housing construction and October manufacturing both on a tear

September housing construction and October manufacturing both on a tear It’s the first of the month, so we get the last laggard for September (construction spending) and the first read on October (ISM manufacturing). Both were very positive in their important components. While total construction spending was only up 0.3% from a downwardly revised August, […]