Weekly Economic Update: March 21-25, 2011
Overview: Existing home sales fell 9.6% in February as new home sales dropped 16.9%. Durable orders were down 0.9% in February. GDP growth for the 4th quarter was revised upwards to 3.1%. Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to a level of 382,000 for the week ended 3/19.
4th Quarter Real GDP Growth Revised Upwards to 3.1%
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revised its estimate of 4th quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) growth upwards to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.1 percent. Last month, BEA had estimated real GDP growth for the 4th quarter at 2.8 percent. The third estimate of 4th quarter...
Weekly Economic Update: March 14-18, 2011
Overview: The Fed held constant its target range of 0.0%-0.25% for the federal funds rate. The topline PPI rose 1.6% in February as the core PPI increased 0.2%. The topline CPI was up 0.5% in February as the core CPI rose 0.2%. Industrial production declined 0.1% in February. Housing starts fel...
Fed maintains target 0.0%-0.25% rate; notes run-up in commodity prices and says recovery on firmer footing
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policymaking committee (the Federal Open Market Committee – FOMC) decided today to keep its target overnight interest rate (the “federal funds rate”) in a target range of 0.0% to 0.25%. The Fed noted the recent run-up in commodity prices and also stated that the econo...
Spend Less, Owe Less, Grow the Economy - Chart Series
Spend Less, Owe Less, Grow the Economy
Fiscal consolidations are programs to reduce government budget deficits and stabilize debt as a percentage of GDP. Fiscal consolidation programs that rely predominately or entirely on spending reductions are more likely to achieve their goals of government budget deficit reduction and debt stabil...
Weekly Economic Update: March 7-11, 2011
Overview: Consumer credit was up $5.0 billion to $2.412 trillion in January. The U.S. trade deficit widened 15% to $46.3 billion in January. The U.S. Treasury recorded a deficit of $222.5 billion in February. Retail sales rose 1.0% in February. Business inventories were up 0.9% in January. Ini...
Weekly Economic Update: February 28- March 4, 2011
Overview: 192,000 payroll jobs were added in February and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.9%. Personal income rose 1.0% in January as spending increased 0.2%. The ISM index rose 0.6 points to 61.4 in February as the ISM services index edged up 0.3 points to 59.7. Auto sales were up 6.4% in ...
Employment up 192,000; unemployment rate edged down to 8.9% in February
February Employment and Unemployment: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a report today on employment and unemployment for February (pdf summary available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf). Highlights of the report:
White House Releases Economic Report of the President without Fanfare
On Thursday, February 23, the White House released the annual Economic Report of the President. In its report the Administration greatly exaggerates the contribution of Administration policies and reaffirms the Administration’s faith in government over free markets. This Republican Staff Commenta...
