While it’s still very early and the existing housing market is profoundly weak, preliminary evidence shows real estate agent commissions declining since new rules went into effect in mid-August following a landmark legal settlement. From mid-August through early October, average…
Through 7/14/24, YTD sales volume of private label food and beverage (F&B) items were up 3%, while value priced and mainstream F&B products were both down 1%. Conversely, premium F&B foodstuffs were up 2%, and super-premium labels were up 4%.…
The Friday File: Economists have recently found that the rise of recreational marijuana laws (RML) over roughly the past decade has resulted in an increased number of grocery store trips that involve the purchase of junk food including snacks, cookies,…
The cost of Thanksgiving dinner has declined again! The inflation-adjusted cost of dinner for 10 peaked in 2022 at $67.84. It fell to $62.76 in 2023 and $58.08 in 2024. The decline was led by turkey, which decreased 6.14%, sweet…
For all the talk of a slowdown in U.S. electric vehicle sales, U.S. drivers purchased 346,000 battery-powered vehicles in 24Q3, a 5% Q-o-Q rise and an 11% Y-o-Y increase. EVs now comprise 9% of new car sales, the highest level…
October existing home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.96 million, up 2.9% Y-o-Y. This is the first year-over-year increase since 7/21! The rise is a result of very weak sales in 10/23 and lower mortgage…
The Friday File: Now that college athletes can earn money for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), wow are they starting to rake it in. In NCAA Division I men’s basketball, the average income of the starting five is now…
In 24Q3, household debt rose by $147 billion and now stands at $17.94 trillion. However, income increased faster in 24Q3 and now stands at $21.80 trillion. Therefore, the debt-to-income ratio continued its decline and is now 82%, meaningfully below the…
There are 2.3 million civilians working for Uncle Sam. 70% are in military/security related agencies. Veteran’s Affairs is the largest cabinet-level department/military branch with 486,522 employees, it’s the hospitals. Homeland Security follows at 222,539, then Army with 221,0437, Navy at…
In 2018/2019, President Trump imposed tariffs of $380 billion on thousands of imported products. The results: reduce GDP by 0.2%, the capital stock by 0.1%, employment by 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs, raise core-goods inflation by about 4% in the first…