Business Trends

SMALL BUSINESS INSIDER by Raymond J. Keating – The latest take on consumer confidence from the U.S. Conference Board shows that American consumers generally are not a happy bunch. That should surprise no one, as they seem to have little to be overjoyed about now or in the near term. The Consumer Confidence Index in […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  The latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” pointed to a messy economy. That’s anything but surprising. This survey of various contacts outside the Fed pointed to an economy growing “modestly,” but that assessment varied considerably across the economy. Indeed, the term might be a bit optimistic based on […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  The latest report on residential construction from the U.S. Census Bureau showed both housing starts and permits taking hits in September. This raises more questions about recession, as well as putting attention on the need for sound policymaking. Housing starts (annual rate) were down by 8.1 percent in September versus […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The Census Bureau has reported that retail sales in September came in flat. But when one factors inflation into the mix, retail sales actually declined in real terms. Seasonally adjusted retail and food services sales grew at 0 percent for September. And compared to a year earlier, sales were up […]

SMALL BUSINESS INSIDER by Raymond J. Keating – The latest Consumer Price Index report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was disappointing, but not surprising. Inflation ran at 0.4 percent in September. As noted in the following chart from the BLS, that was up markedly from the two previous months. And for the past […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The September employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pointed to job growth slowing. Nonfarm payroll employment (from the establishment survey) grew by 263,000 in September, and that’s still a solid monthly gain. However, it was down from larger gains earlier in the year. Meanwhile, according to the […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  The latest surveys of purchasing managers from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) offered additional warning signals regarding the U.S. economy. On Monday, October 3, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for September was released and it came in at 50.9 percent. While that remained in the growth range (anything above 50 […]

by Raymond J. Keating – We’re in a tough economy, which often leads to the rise of silly talk on the economy. And one area where silly talk seems to gain great traction is on trade, and I’m not even talking about politicians on both sides of the political aisle arguing for protectionism via tariffs. […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis just updated its estimate of second quarter U.S. GDP, while also offering its estimate of GDP growth by state. Matters didn’t improve for U.S. GDP with this latest update. Instead, the U.S. economy still shrank by 0.6 percent (annual rate) in the second quarter, […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  The latest report on consumer confidence from the Conference Board indicates that consumers were feeling a bit more confident in September. For the second month in a row, consumer confidence moved in a positive direction. As the Conference Board explained: “The Index now stands at 108.0 (1985=100), up from 103.6 […]