Econ70

Net June job creation was a strong 213,000, and April and May numbers were collectively revised up 37,000! The unemployment rate rose to 4% from 3.8% as the labor force participation rate pleasantly climbed to 62.9% from 62.7%. Wage growth…

The Friday File: 55 years ago this week, a retailer opened an 18,000 square-foot discount store in Rogers, Arkansas called Wal-Mart, as the proprietor’s name was Sam Walton. Today, there’re 11,718 stores in 28 nations, and Walmart is the world’s…

May pending sales of existing houses declined 0.5%, are at a 4-month low, and have declined Y-o-Y for 5 straight months. Similarly, existing home sales in May declined slightly and through 5/18 are down 1.4% compared to January-May 2017. They…

Tomorrow’s our 242nd birthday! In 1776, there were just 2.5 million residents of the world’s newest nation and 56 of them signed the Declaration of Independence. The oldest 7/4 parade is in Bristol, RI where they have been celebrating since…

OPEC appears to be again losing control over oil prices. Oil has been rallying despite promises of higher production from the cartel. Prices are rising due to plummeting Venezuelan production, Iranian sanctions, problems in Libya and other production crises. But…

The Friday File: When 14 mathematicians were given fMRI scans of their brains as they viewed 60 mathematical formulas, the formula that generated the most activity in the brain area stimulated by moral, musical and visual beauty was ei pi+1=0,…

In 18Q1, household debt grew 3.8% Y-o-Y, down from the average growth rate of 4.5% over the previous four quarters. Overall delinquency rates fell because of better performing mortgages and student loans. However, credit-card loans 90 days late reached 8%…

2016 was the first year since at least 1790 that the white, non-Hispanic population of the US declined. The number of whites fell by 9,000 between 2015 and 2016, and by 31,000 between 2016 and 2017. Conversely, the minority population…

There is currently a record amount of share buyback activity. While many find this development troubling, it isn’t. First, buybacks really aren’t financial engineering. They total just 2% of stock market value/year, and only 25% of the largest firms that…

China is the world’s #1 exporter with $2.263 trillion in 2017. Next comes (surprise) the USA, with exports of $1.547 trillion; Germany’s a close third at $1.448 trillion. In distant fourth is Japan, with $698 billion, followed by Netherlands at…