Celebrating Good News
September 17, 2021 We continue to be struck by economists' perpetual fear that a recession or substantially slower growth is just around the corner. If a weak economic indicator is released they tell us that our fear of contracting COVID is preventing us from...
Consumer Sentiment
September 17, 2021 . The preliminary estimate of consumer sentiment for September rose 0.7 point to 71.0 after having plunged to 11.5 points in August. Thus, sentiment remains below the lowest level for the pandemic which was 71.8 in April of last year. But such...
Initial Unemployment Claims
September 16, 2021 . Initial unemployment claims for the week of September 411 rose 20 thousand to 332 thousand after declining 33 thousand in the previous week. After reaching a peak of 6,867 thousand at the end of March of last year initial claims had been...
Retail Sales
September 16, 2021 Retail sales rose 0.7% in August after having fallen 1.8% in July after having risen 0.9% in June The 0.7% increase in August was in sharp contrast to the 0.7% decline that had been expected. The increase would have been even larger except for...
Industrial Production
September 15, 2021 Industrial production rose 0.4% in August after climbing 0.8% in July Production has risen steadily since reaching a low point in April of last year. The nation's production sector continues to recover. However, as shown below, production is...
Gasoline Prices
September 15, 2021 Gasoline prices fell $0.01 in the week ending September 13 .to $3.17 per gallon. In South Carolina gasoline prices tend to about $0.25 below the national average or about $2.92. The EIA expect gasoline prices nationally to average $2.87 per...
Consumer Price Index
September 14, 2021 The CPI rose 0.3% in August after climbing 0.5% in July and 0.9% in June. It rose 1.3% in 2020, and the year-over-year increase currently is 5.2%. Food prices rose 0.4% in August after rising 0.7% in July and 0.8% in June. In the past year...
Do Not Fear the Taper
September 10, 2021 With each additional tidbit of data economists and market participants reevaluate the timing and speed with which the Fed will “taper” its monthly purchases of securities. It is true, that reducing its securities purchases represents the...
Producer Price Index
September 10, 2021 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 rose 0.7%...
Car and Truck Sales
September 8, 2021 Unit car and truck sales plunged 10.7% in August to a 13.057 million pace after having fallen 5.5% in July. Indeed this is the fourth consecutive decline in sales. It is important to remember that the March and April spike in sales was due in...
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