Economy adds 103,000 jobs in December; unemployment rate drops to 9.4%
December Employment and Unemployment: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a report today on employment and unemployment for December (pdf summary). Highlights of the report: Unemployment Rate •The unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in December, from a rate of 9.8% in November. Decemb...
Weekly Economic Update: December 20-31, 2010
Overview: GDP growth for the 3rd quarter was revised slightly upwards to 2.6%. Existing home sales rose 5.6% in November while new home sales rose 5.5% and pending home sales increased 3.5%. Personal income was up 0.3% in November and personal spending was up 0.4%. Durable orders fell 1.3% in No...
Third Estimate Shows GDP Grew at a Real, Annualized Rate of 2.6% in the 3rd Quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its third estimate of growth in the inflation-adjusted (“real”) gross domestic product (GDP) for the 3rd quarter of 2010 (at http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm ). According to the third estimate, annualized GDP growth ...
Weekly Economic Update: December 13-17, 2010
Overview: Retail sales rose 0.8% in November. The topline PPI rose 0.8% in November while the core PPI increased 0.3%. The topline and core CPI edged up 0.1% in November. The Fed held constant its 0.0%-0.25% target for the federal funds rate. Industrial production increased 0.4% in November. H...
Should the Federal Reserve Adopt a Single Mandate?
The Federal Reserve was established by Congress in 1913 with the primary objectives of ensuring financial stability and preventing bank runs. It was not until 1978, however, that the Federal Reserve’s role was modified to include a dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Because ...
Federal Gasoline Tax Targeted For New Revenues
Among the tax increases proposed by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s recent report was a 15 cent increase in the federal gasoline tax (an 82% increase from the current level of 18.4 cents for regular unleaded gasoline), to be implemented gradually between 2013 and 2015. ...
Fed maintains target range of 0.0%-0.25%, says rate of recovery insufficient to bring down unemployment
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% to 0.25%.
Weekly Economic Update: December 6-10, 2010
Overview: Consumer credit increased $3.4 billion to $2.399 trillion in October. The U.S. trade balance narrowed $5.9 billion to $38.7 billion in October. The U.S. Treasury recorded a deficit of $150 billion in November. The 10-year Treasury rate closed the week up 29 basis points. Initial joble...
The State of U.S. Economic Competitiveness
Weekly Economic Update: November 29- December 3, 2010
Overview: The economy added 39,000 jobs as the unemployment rate rose to 9.8% in November. Productivity increased at a rate of 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. The ISM index fell 0.3 point to 56.6 in November; the ISM services index rose 0.7 point to 55.0. Auto sales were essentially unchanged at an ann...
