The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases declined last week. Consumer sentiment has been up and down and has lost some ground so far in September. New jobless claims increased again last week. New construction trends are improving as multifamily activity expands. Existing home sales declined in August while new home sales improved. Supply remains … Continued

U.S. monetary policy was unchanged today as the Fed issued their official statement following their sixth meeting of 2021. The most important information coming out of this meeting was direction on future policy, namely when tapering might begin and if the schedule for possible rate liftoff is accelerating. Tapering we learned is likely coming soon, … Continued

After declining in the first week of September, the trend in new daily COVID-19 cases resumed increasing last week. Consumer sentiment declined again, and sentiment is now down slightly in September following declines in July and August. Initial jobless claims increased last week from what had been a low for the pandemic. Inflation trends decelerated … Continued

New daily COVID-19 cases declined last week, but the Labor Day holiday caused at least some of the decline. Jobless claims continued to decline to new lows for the pandemic, and consumer sentiment edged out a small gain for the week thus far. Used retail sales were stable in August compared to July and remain … Continued

The surging Delta variant of COVID-19 is having a major impact on the economy, especially on jobs. August saw a big deceleration in job creation, including zero new jobs created in Leisure & Hospitality, which had been growing fast. Pending home sales fell in July. Consumer confidence and sentiment continue to fade as COVID cases … Continued

The growth trend in new daily COVID-19 cases continued last week, but the pace of growth is slowing. Consumer sentiment declined again in August. Consumer spending slowed while inflation rose to its highest level in more than 30 years. The savings rate increased again as income growth outpaced spending growth. Jobless claims rose from their … Continued

The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases increased again last week, but the pace of increase slowed. Retail sales slowed, though spending remained relatively strong. Consumer sentiment declined again. Jobless claims fell. meanwhile, used-vehicle prices edged up again. Retail sales slowed: Retail sales declined more than expected from June to July, but upward revisions to … Continued

New daily COVID-19 cases continued to increase last week. Jobless claims kept falling, but measures of consumer sentiment are showing declines so far in August as consumers deal with a host of issues including the fourth wave of COVID-19, diminishing unemployment benefits in half of the country and inflation. Inflation moderated: Inflation moderated in July … Continued

July saw further strong gains in jobs with 943,000 created. The headline unemployment rate and the underemployment rate fell to new lows for the pandemic. New jobless claims also fell again last week, and continuing claims fell in the latest data as well. Average hourly earnings are growing at a fast pace especially since most … Continued

The growth trend in new daily COVID-19 cases continued last week. Consumer sentiment declined in July, but measures of consumer attitudes in July showed conflicting trends. Consumer spending improved in June even as government transfer payments declined. Inflation in June was at the highest level in more than a decade. The savings rate declined but … Continued