Corporate Profits

May 29, 2025 Corporate profits from current production (corporate profits before tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) declined $118 billion which works out to a decline of 2.9% after having risen 5.4% in the fourth quarter.  During the...

Initial Unemployment Claims

May 29, 2025 Initial unemployment claims declined 2 thousand in the week ending May 17 to 227 thousand after being unchanged in the previous week.    There is no evidence that the labor market has been affected by layoffs thus far.  However, we know that some...

Consumer Confidence

May 27, 2025 . The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence jumped 12.3 points in May to 98.0 after having fallen  8.2 points in April, 6.2 points in March and 5.2 points in February.  After hitting a peak in November confidence plunged for five months in a...

Case Shiller Index of Home Prices

May 27, 2025 The seasonally adjusted Case Shiller Index of Home Prices in 20 cities declined 0.1% in March after having risen 0.4% in February.  Prices have risen 4.1% in the past year. The National Index which is a slightly broader measure of home price increases...

Durable Goods Orders

May 27, 2025 Durable goods orders fell 6.3% in April after having risen  7.6% in March.   Durable goods orders have risen 3.2% in the past year.  The big increase in March and the corresponding drop in April almost entirely reflected changes in civilian aircraft...