New applications for unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 in the most recent week to 224,000 from the week before. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected 229,000 new claims.
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Aug 19 2025
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SPECIAL REPORT: A BRAND NEW DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND NOT A JOB TO BE FOUND
For more than 20 years, young people have been hearing tech moguls preach the gospel of technology. Get a degree in computer science, students were told, and you will have a ticket to a six-figure salary, five-figure signing bonuses, and guaranteed job security.
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CRYPTO COMPANIES ARE RUSHING TO ISSUE STOCK
Energized by the friendly policies and personal enthusiasm of Donald Trump, crypto-related businesses are “lining up to go public,” Reuters reported, with the global value of cryptocurrencies remaining above $4 trillion.
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AMERICANS POUR RECORD AMOUNTS OF RETIREMENT FUNDS INTO STOCKS
The U.S. stock market’s seemingly unstoppable rise has persuaded more American workers to put more of their 401(k) retirement money into equities.
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ROBUST EARNINGS BUOY STOCK INVESTORS’ CONFIDENCE
As the current earnings season ends, companies listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index are “handily beating expectations” after the tariff war, a weakened job market, and tighter consumer spending had lowered forecasts, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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MORTGAGE RATES FALL TO 10-MONTH LOW
Last week, the national average interest rate on a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage fell to 6.58 percent, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), down from 6.63 percent the week before, reaching its lowest since October 2024.
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U.S. PRODUCER PRICES CLIMB BY MOST IN THREE YEARS
U.S. wholesale prices jumped 0.9 percent in July, their biggest monthly increase since June 2022. Producers’ margins increased, indicating that a significant number of them are passing tariff costs through to their customers, Bloomberg noted.
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U.S. RETAIL SALES ROSE IN JULY AMID WARNING SIGNS
The dollar value of U.S. retail sales increased by 0.5 percent in July, more than inflation rose, on stronger sales of passenger vehicles and heavy promotions by Amazon and Walmart.
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CONSUMERS’ MOOD HAS DARKENED IN AUGUST
Consumers are no longer fearing a short-term economic catastrophe from Donald Trump’s tariff war, but they do expect higher prices and fewer jobs, according to this month’s survey of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan.
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INFLATION CREEPS HIGHER IN JULY AS SERVICE PRICES CLIMB
In July, consumer prices rose 0.2 percent from June, as economists forecasted, and grew by 2.7 percent year on year.