2025 Economic Outlook Conference
2025 Economic Outlook Conference In times of uncertainty whether you are running a business or planning your investments, knowledge can be your most valuable asset. Stephen Slifer, Owner and Chief Economist at NumberNomics will provide insight...
Another Huge Budget Deficit — But Who Cares?
October 18, 2024 Fiscal year 2024 ended with a yawning budget gap of $1.9 trillion. Another $1.9 trillion was added to the already record amount of debt outstanding with much more to come. The baseline deficit projections from the Congressional Budget Office do not...
Housing Starts
October 18, 2024 Housing starts declined 0.5% in September to 1,354 thousand after having jumped 7.8% in August after plunging 5.0% in July. The combo of Hurricanes Helene and Milton may have reduced the September construction data somewhat as starts in the South...
Homebuilder Confidence
October 17 2024 This series rose 2 points in October to 43 after climbing 2 points in September to 41 after declining 2 points in August.. These back-to-back increases follow four straight declines in this series. Keep in mind that the breakeven point for this...
Industrial Production
October 17, 2024 Industrial production declined 0.3% in September after rising 0.3% in August after having fallen 0.6% in July. The Fed reported that Hurricanes Helene and Beryl subtracted about 0.3% from the index and the Boeing strike subtracted another 0.3%. ...
Initial Unemployment Claims
October 17, 2024 Initial unemployment claims declined 19 thousand in the week ending October 12 to 241 thousand after jumping 35 thousand in the previous week. This series has risen slightly in the past three months. The big increase last week may well reflect...
Retail Sales
October 17, 2024 Retail sales rose 0.4% in September after gaining 0.1% in August and having jumped 1.2% in July. In the past year retail sales have risen 1.9%. Motor vehicle sales were unchanged in September after having declined 0.4% in August but jumping 4.4%...
Fed Policy is Misguided
October 11, 2014 The Federal Reserve is pleased that inflation is closing in on its 2.0% target. But what exactly is inflation? It is the change in prices in the past twelve months. While prices in the past year have risen slowly, they skyrocketed in prior years....
Producer Price Index
October 11, 2024 The Producer Price Index for final demand includes producer prices for goods, as well as prices for construction, services, government purchases, and exports and covers over 75% of domestic production. Producer prices for final demand was...
Consumer Price Index
October 10, 2024 The CPI rose 0.2% in September which is the third consecutive month with a 0.2% increase. The year-over-year increase is currently 2.4%. We now expect the CPI to increase 2.6% in 2024. Food prices rose 0.4% in September after climbing 0.1% in...
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