Business Trends

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest Small Business Pulse survey from the U.S. Census Bureau offered some troubling signals from small businesses. Revenue Trouble First, in the latest week’s polling (January 10-16, 2022), 34.3 percent of small business respondents experienced a decline in revenue, as opposed to 5.3 percent experiencing an increase and 60.4 […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The housing data for December 2021 presented by the U.S. Census Bureau provides more evidence for how changes in tax policy affect business decision-making. Building permits for privately-owned housing units (seasonally adjusted annual rate) increased by 9.1 percent in December versus November. However, that increase included a 111.9 percent increase […]

Taxes have a very real impact on the decisions made by individuals, families, entrepreneurs, businesses and investors. The result is simple: The more you tax something, the less of it you will get. That’s not exactly an earth-shattering declaration, that is, unless one swims in the waters of politics. There are plenty of elected officials […]

by Raymond J. Keating – There’s no getting around or spinning the Census Bureau’s retail and food services sales report for December 2021: It’s bad. Retail and food services sales for December declined by 1.9 percent compared to the previous month. Nearly all major sales categories were down, including nonstore (mainly e-commerce) retail, which was […]

  by Raymond J. Keating – There wasn’t much good news from the Federal Reserve and on Fed-related policy outcomes on January 12. First, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Consumer Price Index inflation continued to run hot in December at 0.5 percent. And for all of 2021, inflation came in at 7 percent, […]

By Karen Kerrigan – One thing that entrepreneurs and small business owners can continue to expect in 2022 is more of the same and more of the unexpected. Entrepreneurs and innovations will continue to provide solutions to potential problems that may emerge in the marketplace, and as we’ve seen, consumers have embraced the continuous pivoting. […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics actually is stronger than what’s been widely noted in the media. As usual, too much focus is placed on one survey included in the jobs report – the establishment survey – while ignoring the other survey – the household […]

  by Raymond J. Keating – Growth continued in the services sector of the U.S. economy, according to the latest takes from purchasing managers. It was reported in IHS Markit Services PMI: “All seven broad categories monitored by the US Sector PMI signalled a rise in business activity during December, up from six in November.” […]

by Raymond J. Keating – When a global pandemic hits, trade naturally is going to suffer. At the same time, trade remains vital to the well-being of American entrepreneurs, businesses, workers and consumers. So, we need a strong recovery and growth in both exports and imports. Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far. […]

by Raymond J. Keating – And so it continues. What? Assorted supply chain issues persisted and constrained manufacturing output in December – though growth and optimism persist. It was noted in the IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI): “The rate of output growth picked up slightly to the fastest for three months, but was […]