Business Trends

by Raymond J. Keating- Small Business Policy Index 2019: Washington ranked 10th best among the 50 states. SBE Council’s “Small Business Policy Index 2019” ranks the 50 states according to 62 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending and performance measurements. Small Business Tax Index 2019: Washington ranked 6th […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Despite assorted policymakers in Washington, D.C., serving up confused, contradictory and at times economically incoherent declarations on monetary policy and the dollar, good news persisted on inflation in the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Consumer Price Index. And it pays to keep in mind that, […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Small Business Policy Index 2019: Utah ranked 7th best among the 50 states. SBE Council’s “Small Business Policy Index 2019” ranks the 50 states according to 62 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending and performance measurements.  Small Business Tax Index 2019: Utah ranked 16th […]

by Raymond J. Keating- In the latest small business lending data from the FDIC’s latest quarterly banking profile, some troubling questions emerge. First, small commercial and industrial (C&I), and nonfarm nonresidential (properties) loan balances came in at $644.5 billion at the close of the second quarter 2019. That was up compared to $632.5 billion a […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The default in media and political circles when it comes to the monthly jobs report is to focus on the establishment survey payroll numbers and the household survey’s unemployment rate. Yes, if you were unaware, these two numbers come from two different surveys that are both included in the monthly employment […]

 by Raymond J. Keating- According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income grew by 0.4 percent in August. That marked a return to strong growth after July essentially being flat. The most important measure in this report is real per capita personal disposable income, that is, personal income less personal […]

by Raymond J. Keating- When I testified before in the U.S. Senate last year on legislative proposals to increase access to capital, one of the forms of investment that I highlighted was venture capital. As I noted at the time, “While not an option for most start-ups or very young firms, venture capital investment is […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The Census Bureau’s durable goods report for August pointed to overall growth inching ahead, while a key measure of business investment showed contraction. The topline number estimated that durable goods new orders grew by only 0.2 percent in August. This marked a slowdown from gains of 2.0 percent in July and […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Small Business Policy Index 2019: Minnesota ranked 46th – fifth worst – among the 50 states.  SBE Council’s “Small Business Policy Index 2019” ranks the 50 states according to 62 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending and performance measurements. Small Business Tax Index 2019: […]

by Raymond J. Keating- According to the latest state employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth in August was concentrated in just a few states. Specifically, five states had statistically significant gains in nonfarm payroll employment in August over July – Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Kansas – while one state […]