The Bowtie Economist's Daily Dose of 70-Word Wisdom

After peaking in CY2016 at 17.5 million, sales of cars and light trucks steadily slid and by CY2019 were 17 million. Between 2020-2022, sales were dismal and peaked in CY2021 at 15 million. While sales rose to 15.5 million units…

After four months of larger than expected monthly job growth, April employment grew 175,000, it’s fourth lowest gain since 1/21. This pushed the unemployment rate up to 3.9%, Y-o-Y wage growth down to 3.9%, and the workweek also softened. All…

The Fun Finale: Sometime in May, when the soil temperature eight inches deep reaches 65 degrees, trillions of cicadas will emerge, mate, lay eggs and then die, all in about five weeks. What makes this year special is that Brood…

President Biden’s student debt cancellation plans will cost between $870 billion and $1.4 trillion. $620 billion has already been spent, and the latest plan will cost between $250-$750 billion more. That’s more than will be spent on universal pre-K and…

While the Y-o-Y change in the 24Q1 Employment Cost Index (measuring wages, salaries, and quickly-rising benefits), came in at 4.2%, and the Q-o-Q reading was an uncomfortably hot 1.2%, this does not necessarily portend high inflation. The 24Q1 productivity reading…

If TikToc gets banned in the US, and that may take a while as the courts will be involved, the biggest winners are likely to be Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet’s YouTube and their respective video platforms Reels and…

The total value of American property, excluding farmland, is $66 trillion. Of that, 25% is commercial, and of that office space is probably $4 trillion. Between 2007 and 2009, US residential real estate lost a third of its value, which…

Based on a quarterly survey of active managerial job seekers, during calendar year 2020 5% of such individuals relocated to find new employment. In 2021, the percentage fell to 4%, in 2022, the percentage declined further to 3.75%, and in…

Pre-Covid, income growth for the lowest income quartile was almost 5%/year, while for the other quartiles growth was 3.5%/year. By mid-2022, income growth for the bottom and second highest quartiles peaked at almost 8%/year but was nearly 6% for the…