Weekly Economic Update: August 18-22, 2014
The consumer price index rose 0.1% in July while core CPI also increased 0.1%. Housing starts increased a higher-than-expected 15.7% to an annualized pace of 1.093 million units. Building permits jumped 8.1% in July to an annualized pace of 1.052 million units. Existing home sales increased 2.4% to ...
Weekly Economic Update: August 11-15, 2014
The U.S. Treasury budget deficit fell to $94.6 billion for July, 10 months into the fiscal year. Retail sales were flat for July. Business inventories increased 0.4% for June. The producer price index for total final demand increased 0.1% in July while PPI-FD excluding food & energy rose 0.2%. Indus...
Weekly Economic Update: August 4-8, 2014
Factory orders increased a higher-than-expected 1.1% in June. The ISM services index rose 2.7 points to 58.7 in July, a recovery best. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed $3.2 billion to $41.5 billion in June. Consumer credit increased $17.26 billion (0.54%) in June to $3.21 trillion. Productivity for t...
Weekly Economic Update: July 28 - August 1, 2014
The pending home sales index was down 1.1% in June to a level of 102.7. The Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.3% in May. In an advance estimate, second quarter GDP rose an annualized 4.0%. The FOMC announced that policy rates are unchanged at a target level of 0 to 0.25%, and tape remains on sche...
Weekly Economic Update: July 21-25, 2014
The consumer price index increased 0.3% in June while core CPI increased 0.1%. Existing home sales rose a higher-than-expected 2.6% to an annual rate of 5.04 million units for June. New home sales slowed to an annual rate of 406,000 units in June. Durable goods orders increased 0.7% for June. Initia...
Washington is the Worst Place to set a Minimum Wage
Supporters of federal minimum wage legislation portray it as an antipoverty device, claiming that it has no adverse employment effects. Some empirical studies even find no employment losses from minimum wage increases, and minimum wage advocates use these studies to argue that the federal governmen...
From Impeding to Empowering Entrepreneurs: A Review of State Occupational Licensing Laws
Job churn has slowed in recent years, and labor force participation has declined among the young and prime working-age individuals. Expanding firms are adding fewer jobs on average than they have in the past. The Brookings Institution finds that overall “business dynamism,” the continual process of ...
Weekly Economic Update: July 14-18, 2014
Retail sales increased 0.2% in June. Business inventories rose 0.5% in May. The producer price index for total final demand rose 0.4% in June. Industrial production increased 0.2% in June. Housing starts declined 9.3% in June to an annualized pace of 0.893 million units. Building permits declined 4....
Weekly Economic Update: July 7-11, 2014
Consumer credit rose $19.60 billion (0.6%) to $3.20 trillion in May. The U.S. Treasury reported a budget surplus of $70.5 billion for June and a fiscal year-to-date deficit total of $365.9 billion. Initial jobless claims fell 11,000 to 304,000 for the week ended 7/5.
Weekly Economic Update: June 30-July 4, 2014
The pending home sales index is up 6.1% in May. Vehicle sales rose 1.24% to an annual rate of 16.98 million for June. The ISM index slowed to a steady 55.3 in June. Construction spending rose 0.1% in May. Factory orders fell 0.5% in May. The economy added 288,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment r...
