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

Construction Spending up .2% in October, Prior Months Revised Higher

Construction Spending Rose 0.2% in October after Prior Months Were Much Revised Higher, MarketWatch 666, RJS The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending for October (pdf) estimated that the month’s seasonally adjusted construction spending would work out to $1,598.0 billion annually if extrapolated over an entire year, which was 0.2 percent (+/-1.2 percent)* above the revised September […]

Income, Spending, and PCE PI Index Up . . . Savings Rate Lowest Since December 2019

Commenter and Blogger RJS, MarketWatch 666, Personal Income Rose 0.5% in October, Personal Spending Rose 1.3%, PCE Price Index Rose 0.6%, Savings Rate Lowest Since December 2019 The October report on Personal Income and Outlays from the Bureau of Economic Analysis includes the month’s data for our personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which accounts for more than 70% […]

3rd Quarter GDP Grew at a 2.1% Rate, Revised from 2.0%

Blogger and Commenter RJS, 3rd Quarter GDP Grew at a 2.1% Rate, Revised from 2.0%; All on Inventories, No Real Final Sales The Second Estimate of our 3rd Quarter GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicated that our real output of goods and services grew at a 2.1% annual rate over the quarter, revised from the 2.0% […]

Oct. Durable Goods: New Orders Down 0.5%, Shipments Up 1.5%, Inventory Up 0.6%

RJS at MarketWatch 666, October Durable Goods: New Orders Down 0.5%, Shipments Up 1.5%, Inventories Up 0.6% The Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for October (pdf) from the Census Bureau reported that the value of the widely followed new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased by $1.2 billion or 0.5 percent […]

Impacting Oil Pricing with SPR Oil Releases

Commenter and Blogger RJS at Focus on Fracking and MarketWatch 666 brought up the past history of US SPR oil releases and the impact on oil prices in the Comments section. Since 1990, each time releases (SPR) have been made, there has been a countering reduction of oil by OPEC which could include Russia this […]

Retail Sales Up 1.7% in October, August and September Revised Higher

MarketWatch 666 Blogger RJS on the macroeconomic implications of retail sales, estimates the impact of retail sales on GDP. Retail Sales Rose 1.7% in October after August & September Sales Were Revised Higher Seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 1.7% in October after retail sales for August and September were revised higher…the Advance Retail Sales Report for […]

Global Oil shortage at 1,930,000 barrels per day in October

Blogger RJS, MarketWatch 666 and Focus on Fracking, Global Oil Shortage at 1,930,000 barrels per day in October as OPEC’s output falls 588,000 barrels per day short of quota OPEC’s October Oil Market Report Thursday of this week saw the release of OPEC’s November Oil Market Report, which includes OPEC & global oil data for October, and […]

Annual Inflation at a 31 Year High

Commenter and Blogger RJS, MarketWatch 666. CPI Rose 0.9% in October on Higher Prices for Food, Shelter, Energy, and Vehicles; Annual Inflation at a 31 Year High And October at +0.94332% exceeds June at +0.90486% so it’s the biggest one month jump in over 13 years.. The consumer price index rose 0.9% in October, the greatest one […]

Record PPI, Final Demand Goods, and Intermediate Goods Prices

Others are calling October at 8.6% equal to September’s record, but adding additional decimal points shows October +8.6265% clearly higher than September’s +8.5931% “Record 8.6% Annual Increase in October Producer Price Index; Record 14.2% Increase for Final Demand Goods, and a 46 year Record for Prices of Intermediate Goods,” RJS, MarketWatch 666 The seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for final […]

Jobs, Trade Deficit, Construction Spend, and Factory Inventory Reports

MarketWatch 666: Commenter and Blogger RJS; October’s jobs report; September’s trade deficit, construction spending, and factory inventories, et al Major economic reports that were released the past week included the Employment Situation Summary for October from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and three September reports that included metrics which were either estimated or included in last week’s […]