Econ70

The US goods and services trade deficit shrank to $43.1 billion in November, its lowest level since 10/16 when it was just $42 billion. And, our trade deficit with China over the last 12 months is $358 billion, down from…

On 6/30/19 the US population was 328,239,523 and for the year ending 6/30/19 population growth was a dismal 1,552,022, or just 0.5%, continuing a decades-long decline. This growth rate was the lowest since the population fell in 1918 due to…

Boeing recently announced it was reducing to zero planes/month, from 42 planes/month, production of the 737 MAX which was already down from 52 planes/month following a second crash and the subsequent grounding of the plane in 4/19. Halting production will…

The Friday File: 16% of persons want to be consulted before their partner makes a purchase of under $100, and 20% set it at $100-$199. It then steadily declines to 12% for purchases between $200-$299, 8% between $300-$399, and 2%…

A year ago, six Fed members saw short-term rates ending 2019 up by three-quarters of a point, 5 members saw them rising by half a point, 4 members by a quarter-point, and two members saw no change. In the end,…

I wish to take this opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing interest in my daily economics blog. You all enrich my life in many ways and I am deeply appreciative. I wish you and yours the best year…

Florida is the nation’s third most populous state, behind California and Texas, with a population of 21,299,325. For the nine-year period ending 7/1/19 it grew 13.3%; third fastest of all states and behind just Texas, Utah (and DC). At $1.06…

The Friday File: A decade ago, it was shown that public firms with clever ticker symbols (like BABY, BOOM, CAKE, FUN, CASH) performed twice as well as all shares on the NYSE and NASDAQ between 1984 and 2006. A fluke?…

While unemployment is at a 50-year low at 3.5%, wage growth is relatively weak, and at 3% has declined over the past year. This is partly because job growth in manufacturing has stopped and partly because those reentering the job…

Inflation, measured by the Christmas Price Index and based on purchasing each day’s items once in “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” rose just 0.2% in 2019 to $38,993.59. Excluding the costliest item, seven swans-a-swimming at $13,125, will reduce the cost…