Producer Price Index

December 12, 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 rose 0.4% in...

Consumer Price Index

December 11, 2024 The CPI rose 0.3% in November after climbing 0.2% in each of the previous three months. The year-over-year increase is currently 2.8%.  We now expect the CPI to increase 2.7% in 2024. Food prices rose 0.4% in November after gaining 0.2% in October. ...

Nonfarm Productivity

December 10, 2024 Non-farm productivity rose 2.2% in the third quarter after climbing 2.1% in the second quarter.   The third quarter increase consisted of a 3.5% increase in output combined with a 1.2% increase in hours worked. Hence, a 2.2% increase in productivity...

Unit Labor Costs

December 10, 2024 Unit labor costs might be a term that is not familiar to you.  Unit labor costs represent the increase in compensation adjusted for the gains in productivity.  You might think that if labor costs are rising that would put upward pressure on...

Hourly Compensation

December 10, 2024 The Bureau of Labor Statistics  indicated that hourly compensation rose 3.1% in the third quarter after rising 1.0% in the second quarter.  In the past year compensation has risen 4.3%. Growth in hourly compensation is a good thing, but that increase...

Small Business Optimism

December 10, 2024 . Small business optimism jumped 8.0 points in November to 101.7 after climbing 2.2 points in October and 0.3 point in September.  The level is finally above the 40-year average so-called breakeven point for this series which is 98.0.  This is the...