U.S. monetary policy was unchanged today as the Fed issued their official statement following their fifth meeting of 2021. Minimal changes were made in the official statement compared to the prior statement. They acknowledged progress towards the conditions necessary to eventually move away from easy monetary conditions but said they will continue to assess progress … Continued

The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases continued increasing last week. Consumer sentiment declined again and is having its worst month since November. Wholesale used vehicle values continue to decline from their peak in early June. Retail prices are likely to reach their peak this month. New construction trends in June were mixed, but declining … Continued

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases continued to increase last week. New jobless claims declined to a pandemic low, but consumer sentiment declined again, losing ground so far in July. Inflation increased again in June as bottleneck-sensitive categories like used cars, car rentals and lodging saw more big gains. Used vehicles are not likely … Continued

New daily COVID-19 cases continued to increase last week. Used-vehicle sales slowed to a more normal pace. New jobless claims increased slightly from the prior week, but continuing claims declined. Consumer sentiment improved modestly over the last seven days but remains down so far in July. Consumers opened new credit cards and took out new … Continued

The new-vehicle market lost more momentum in June as the market is past the spring frenzy and is now seeing sales fall with even tighter supply and record-high prices with limited incentives. Still, June retail sales were still close to the level recorded in June 2019, so the pace is relatively strong considering the conditions. June saw … Continued

The trend in new daily COVID-19 cases stopped declining with cases increasing slightly last week. Consumer sentiment improved slightly, but measures of consumer sentiment show mixed trends in June. Consumer spending was unchanged in May as incomes slid with less government support. Inflation in May was at the highest level in more than a decade. … Continued

New daily COVID-19 cases continued to decline last week, but new jobless claims increased from the prior week. The change in trend could just be noise following impact of Memorial Day holiday period leading to lower claims and the following full week showing some bounce back. Initial claims are expected to continue to decline. Jobless … Continued

U.S. monetary policy was unchanged today as the Fed issued their official statement following their fourth meeting of 2021. Minimal changes were made in the official statement compared to the prior statement. While acknowledging progress on vaccinations has reduced the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, the Fed is focusing on achieving … Continued

New daily COVID-19 cases continued to decline last week, but the pace of decline slowed. Economic activity continues to recover as more states ease or eliminate restrictions. New jobless claims declined to their lowest level for the pandemic last week. Inflation increased again in May as bottleneck-sensitive categories like car rentals, used cars, airline fares, … Continued

May saw 559,000 new jobs created but 675,000 had been expected. The headline unemployment rate and the underemployment rate both fell to new lows for the pandemic. New jobless claims also fell again last week to their lowest level for the pandemic. Average hourly earnings are growing at a solid pace even though the majority … Continued