Business Trends

by Raymond J. Keating – According to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau, retail and food services sales in July declined by 1.1 percent. That marked the second monthly decline in the last three months. The July drop was preceded by a 0.7 percent gain in June and a 1.4 percent decline in […]

by Raymond J. Keating – Inflation continued to run hot in July. According to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation registered 0.5 percent in July. Over the past year, inflation came in at 5.4 percent. And if that’s not high enough, over the past six months, […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  Productivity is one of those economic measures that gets far less attention than it deserves. After all, employee income, to a significant degree, is driven by labor productivity, that is, output per hour, measured by dividing an index of real output by an index of hours worked, including by employees, […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was robustly positive. Each survey – the establishment survey and the household survey – in the report revealed strong job growth in July. The topline pointed to a 943,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls in July, based on the establishment […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  Based on the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the story on personal income, as well as personal consumption expenditures (PCE), is a mixed tale. Certain key aspects in the report are pointed in a positive direction, others in a negative direction, and we are still left […]

by RAYMOND J. KEATING – According to the latest GDP (gross domestic product) report, the U.S. economy grew at a real annualized rate of 6.5 percent in the second quarter of 2021. After four straight quarters of growth, U.S. real economic output recovered to where it was before the pandemic hit. That’s a noteworthy accomplishment […]

by RAYMOND J. KEATING – After suffering a decline in April, durable goods new orders grew for the second consecutive month in June, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the major declines suffered in March and April of 2020, durable goods orders have now increased in 13 of the last […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The residential housing business overwhelmingly is about small business. For example, based on the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 97.4 percent of employer firms in the residential construction sector of our economy have fewer than 20 employees, and 99.7 percent fewer than 100. Therefore, the hot housing sector […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The U.S. Census Bureau reported that retail sales bounced back in June after a decline in May. June retail and food services sales increased by 0.6 percent. And compared to a year earlier, retail sales were up a robust 18.0 percent. And versus pre-pandemic February 2020, June 2021 sales were […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The Federal Reserve’s latest take on industrial production – i.e., the actual output of the manufacturing, mining and utility sectors of our economy – indicated growth of 0.4 percent in June. The data show growth in three of the last four months, after a weather-related decline in February. The initial […]