Business Trends

by Raymond J. Keating- The latest information from surveys on the services sector offers more good news on the direction of our economy. All Services Industries Report Growth The Institute for Supply Management’s Services PMI registered an all-time high in March 2021 at 63.7 percent, which was up by eight percentage points from February. The […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that March registered as a strong month in terms of recovering lost jobs, as well as gains in at least one measure of entrepreneurship. Information from both surveys – i.e., the establishment survey and the household survey – pointed […]

  by Raymond J. Keating- The latest surveys on manufacturing point to solid growth having occurred in March, but with increasing challenges in terms of the supply chain. The IHS Markit U.S. Manufacturing PMI report noted that the March PMI hit the second-highest level on record (data going back to May 2007), thanks to strength […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index for March jumped to the highest level since March of last year. The March 2021 level came in at 109.7, which marked a leap up from February’s 90.4. The board noted: “The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The main, overarching economic story of this pandemic has remained generally similar across the United States. But there have been some notable differences by state. Overall, the U.S. economy suffered a serious decline in the first quarter of 2020, followed by a collapse in the second quarter. Then came a jump […]

by Raymond J. Keating- There are signs of hope in various places – hope that this pandemic will soon be put to rest for the sake of lives, public health, and the economy. That hope is tied to the distribution of vaccines, which will then lead to a return to normalcy, including for the economy. […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The U.S. Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders fell by 1.1 percent in February. That broke a streak of nine months of increases, after, of course, major declines in March and April of last year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdowns. If we look at capital […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The housing numbers served up by the U.S. Census Bureau were ugly for February. That’s troubling given that housing has been a major bright spot for the economy during this pandemic economy, as well as the fact that housing very much is about small business. The data pointed to housing starts […]

Wellness Trends 2021 by Rieva Lesonsky – COVID-19 shifted the health priorities of many American adults, according to a report from Mintel. The research shows nearly half of adults have higher personal safety standards because of the coronavirus and 30% are more aware of their mental health needs. As a result, this year, consumers set new health-related […]

by Raymond J. Keating- After a nice jump in January, retail sales declined in February, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Specifically, after a solid increase in January broke a string of monthly declines, the advance estimate for retail and food services sales in February dropped by 3.0 percent. With the […]