When Will the Workers Return?
October 22, 2021 The demand for workers is the strongest it has been in decades. But despite ample job opportunities workers have been slow to seek out employment. There are probably a variety of reasons ranging from generous unemployment benefits, fear of...
Existing Home Sales
October 21, 2021 Existing home sales jumped 7.0% in September to 6,290 thousand after having fallen 2.0% in August. Much of the drop in sales earlier in the year was caused by the the lack of supply which is currently at a near record low level of 2.4 months. ...
Gasoline Prices
October 21, 2021 Gasoline prices rose $0.06 in the week ending October 18 to $3.32 per gallon. In South Carolina gasoline prices tend to about $0.25 below the national average or $3.07. The EIA expects gasoline prices nationally to average $2.97 per gallon this...
GDP, Inflation, and Interest Rate Forecasts
October 15, 2021 GDP grew 6.7% in the second quarter versus a 6.3% increase in the first quarter. However, demand remained robust in Q2 and businesses had to dig deep into inventories in an effort to keep pace with demand. As a result, we expect 6.0% GDP...
Housing Starts
October 19, 2021 Housing starts declined 1.6% in September to 1,555 thousand after having risen 1.2% in August Like every other economic indicator, starts rebounded sharply since the recession ended last April and have far surpassed the levels where they were in...
Homebuilder Confidence
October 18, 2021 Homebuilder confidence in October jumped 4 points to 80 after having climbed 1 point in September. The index fell from a 35-year old record high level of 90 set in November of last year to a low of 75 in August as COVID cases surged and supply...
Industrial Production
October 18, 2021 Industrial production fell 1.3% in September after having declined 0.1% in August (initially published as a 0.4% increase). Production had been steadily climbing since reaching a low point in April of last year. However, as shown below,...
The Fed is Far Behind the Curve
October 15, 2021 The economy hit a speed bump in the summer as COVID cases began to climb. But now COVID cases are in a tailspin which suggests that the economy is likely to rebound in the fourth quarter. That is reassuring but there is little slack left in the...
Retail Sales
October 15, 2021 Retail sales rose 0.7% in September which was much larger than the 0.1% decline that had been expected. There were, in addition, modest upward revisions to the July and August data. After revision August sales rose 0.8% but they declined 1.6% in...
Producer Price Index
October 14, 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 0.5% in...
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