Business Trends

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that retail and food services sales in October recovered from a poor September performance. Retail and food services sales grew by 1.3 percent in October. That nominal gain compared to a 0.4 percent inflation rate for the month. In September, sales […]

by Raymond J. Keating – Industrial production is a valuable measure of the industrial sector of our economy. That’s especially the case during times of inflation, since industrial production is the physical output, free from price changes, of the manufacturing, mining and utility sectors of our economy. In October, according to latest data from the […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  Periods of high inflation also wind up being times of volatile inflation from month to month. For good measure, inflation is a difficult monster to tame, as substantial price increases get ingrained in the expectations of businesses and consumers. We’re seeing evidence of each of these phenomenon currently. First, as […]

By Raymond J. Keating –  You don’t have to dig too deeply to see that the October employment report was pretty ugly. Establishment vs. Household Survey While the establishment survey estimated that payrolls increased by 261,000 in October, the household survey, which better captures startup and small business activity, offered a very different picture of […]

by Raymond J. Keating – Productivity is essential to income growth for workers, and vital to the profitability of businesses. And while often treated like a difficult puzzle to piece together, productivity growth stems from innovation; improved efficiency and operations; investment in technology, equipment and facilities; experience; and investment in education and skills. However, measuring […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The Federal Reserve announced on November 2 that it would raise the federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points to a targeted range of 3-3/4 to 4 percent. The Fed added, “The Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance […]

SMALL BUSINESS INSIDER by Raymond J. Keating – The calendar has turned the page from October to November. And if small businesses weren’t already thinking about holiday sales, well, they certainly are now, given the importance of the holiday season to the bottom line for the entire year. What are some of the early takes […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest report on personal income from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis pointed to continuing woes on the income front, with inflation making income gains disappear. It was noted that personal income grew by 0.4 percent in nominal terms in September. Most of that, however, was eaten away by […]

SMALL BUSINESS INSIDER by Raymond J. Keating – Real GDP grew at 2.6 percent (annual rate) in the third quarter, according to the first estimate by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This, of course, came after two quarters of negative GDP growth, that is, -1.6 percent in the first quarter 2022 and then -0.6 […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  Upon seeing that real GDP grew at 2.6 percent in the third quarter, according to the first estimate released on October 27 by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, my first thought was: Well, at least it’s not negative. After real GDP declined by 1.6 percent in the first quarter […]