FOMC Maintains Fed Funds Target of 0.0%-0.25%
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policymaking committee (the Federal Open Market Committee – FOMC) maintained existing policies and programs, including a 0.0%-0.25% target federal funds rate through mid-2013.
Weekly Economic Update: October 24-28, 2011
GDP advanced at a 2.5% annual pace in the 3rd quarter. Personal income edged up 0.1% in September as personal spending was up 0.6%. Durable orders fell 0.8% in September. The Cash-Shiller home price index was virtually unchanged in August and down 3.9% from a year ago. New home sales rose 5.7% i...
Real GDP Advances 2.5% in 3rd Quarter
President Obama has proposed yet another stimulus package designed to give the economy a “boost.” The President fails to understand that current administration policies and proposals are discouraging the one element that will kick start private sector job growth – private investment.
Advance Estimate Shows GDP Grew at a Real, Annualized Rate of 2.5% in the 3rd Quarter
According to the advance estimate, annualized GDP growth in the 3rd quarter was 2.5%. The most recent Blue Chip Consensus forecast predicted growth of 1.9% in the 3rd quarter (and predicts 1.9% in the 4th quarter). Growth in the 2nd quarter of 2011 was 1.3%, and growth in the 1st quarter was 0.4%....
The Private Sector is Doing Just Fine?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently stated that “It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine, it’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers….” While it is true that the private sector has added 1.4 million jobs and the public sector has lost 572,000 jobs sin...
Greek to US?
Greece is in the throes of a massive fiscal crisis, the onset of which was sudden and severe. Reckless overspending and a growing welfare state eventually pushed Greece over the edge. With the Greek government and citizenry now subject to the demands of its creditors and the EU, democracy has been...
Weekly Economic Update: October 17-21, 2011
Industrial production increased 0.2% in September. The topline CPI rose 0.3% in September while the core CPI increased 0.1%. The topline PPI rose 0.8% in September while the core PPI was up 0.2%. Housing starts jumped 15% in September as building permits declined 5.0% and existing home sales fell...
Consumer Prices Increase 3.9% Over Past 12 months
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released Consumer Price Index (CPI) data this morning for September 2011. Prices for all items (CPI-U, all urban consumers) increased by 0.3% during September. Over the past 12 months, prices increased 3.9%. Excluding food and energy (core CPI,) prices incre...
Weekly Economic Update: October 11-14, 2011
Retail sales were up 1.1% in September. The U.S. trade deficit was unchanged at $45.6 billion in September. The U.S. Treasury reported a deficit of $64.6 billion for September. Business inventories rose 0.5% in August. Initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to a level of 404,000 for the week ended 10...
Weekly Economic Update: October 3-7, 2011
Overview: The economy added 103,000 jobs in September as the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1%. Consumer credit declined $9.5 billion to $2.445 trillion in August. The ISM index rose 1.0 point to 51.6 in September as the ISM services index edged down 0.3 points to 53.0. Construction spending ...
