Econ70

December retail sales were dismal, declining 1.2% M-o-M, their worst performance in years. They have since rebounded and January sales were up 0.2%. While there are many possible explanations, including the government shutdown, the near 20% decline in the stock…

During the 20th century, the US consumed 4.4 gigatons of cement. By contrast, during 2011-2013 China used 6.4 gigatons of cement; 45% more than the US used in 100 years; amazing! Why? China has 221 cities with over a million…

With just 20,000 new jobs, the February job report headline was disappointing. But, aftermath from the government shutdown continued to impact the data, as did severe weather during the survey week. Separately, since the current expansion began, each time there…

The Friday File: Today is International Women’s Day, which was first held in the US on 2/28/1909 in honor of the 15,000 female garment workers who marched for better working conditions in NYC in 1908. The first International Women’s Day…

In 2016, the latest year for which data are available, there were 140.9 million taxpayers. The top 1%, (AGI > $480,804), earned 19.7% of all income, paid 37.3% of all income taxes, and had an average tax rate of 26.9%.…

Last week, a key manufacturing sentiment index fell to its lowest level in over two years but remains solidly in expansion territory. Yesterday, an equally important services sentiment index rose to one of its highest levels of this almost 10-year…

A record 7 million Americans are 90 days or more behind on their car loans. While more than 5.8 million were delinquent during the Great Recession, as a percentage of auto loans outstanding, today’s rate is 4.5% vs 5.3% at…

US GDP grew at a strong 2.6% annualized rate in 18Q4, resulting in CY2018 GDP growth of 2.9%, and growth of even 3.1% if comparing 18Q4 from a year earlier. However, no matter how measured, growth is slowing. It was…

The Friday File: This week, the Periodic Table celebrates its 150th birthday. In 1789, Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (who was beheaded in 1794) first published a list of 33 elements thought to be incapable of being broken down. However, it was…

In 2017, the latest year for which data are available, debit and credit cards accounted for 62.3% of all payments by dollars spent, up from 53% in 2012. Next was cash at 15.5%, down from 19%. Electronic payments that completely…