Fed Confusion

December 20, 2022 Recent Fed  policy has been confusing to say the least.   In September the focus was on the unemployment rate and the Fed eased aggressively.  Two months later the focus shifted back to inflation and the Fed seemed nervous.  The Fed basically told us...

Existing Home Sales

December 19, 2024 . Existing home sales rose 4.8% in November to 4,150 thousand after increasing 3.4% in October  That is the fastest pace of home sales since March.  The steady increase in jobs is boosting income, mortgage rates should fall somewhat in the months...

GDP

December 19, 2024 . The final estimate of third quarter GDP was  3.1% which is slightly higher than the preliminary estimate of 2.8%.  This compares to GDP growth of 3.0% in the second quarter.  Growth in the past year has been 2.7% Final sales, which is GDP excluding...

Final Sales

December 19, 2024 When the economy is slowing down, firms will accumulate unwanted inventories.   Those inventories still show up in GDP, but they are unsold.  Hence, GDP will be biased upwards.  Similarly, in good times businesses will reduce inventory levels to...