Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

The U.S. Federal Reserve must do much more to address the crippling economic effects of racism, said three Fed bank presidents on 7 October in the first of a series of Fed events focusing on race and the economy. “This is a time for us to not shy away,” said Raphael Bostic, president of the...

The U.S. economic recovery “will require following medical experts’ guidance, including using masks and social-distancing measures,” Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics on 6 October. An out-of-control virus pandemic would “more significantly limit economic activity, not to mention the tragic effects on...

About 100,000 U.S. eateries will close this year, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) has predicted. Most of the dead will be locally-owned businesses. During the pandemic, many restaurant chains are thriving. The Chipotle chain reports more than tripling online sales during the second quarter. McDonald’s same-store sales bumped up 4.6 percent in the third quarter,...

About 617,000 women left the U.S. labor force in September, compared to 78,000 men, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on 2 October. Half of the women who left were ages 35 to 44, considered prime working and earning years. The large number of women leaving the workforce is attributed to women’s dominant place...

Since 1 October, U.S. government bond yields have risen to their highest levels since June, pushing prices down and prodding investors to see bonds’ futures more skeptically than they have since the current economic crisis began. When the interest rate on bonds rises, the price of those bonds falls. The rising yields may be the...

The U.S. Treasury collected $3.42 trillion in revenue during the fiscal year ended 30 September, but spent $6.55 trillion, leaving a deficit of $3.13 trillion, or 15.2 percent of GDP, according to a 6 September estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. The new deficit is three times greater than the previous year. If the estimate...

After two months without federal financial aid, the economic recovery is faltering, and the U.S. economy needs an immediate infusion of $1 trillion to $2 trillion to be shared among workers, businesses of all sizes, and state and local governments, according to economists surveyed by the New York Times. “The risk to waiting” longer for...

Stocks rose last week as President Trump backtracked on his stance against further economic stimulus. Markets also are rising on the expectation that Joseph Biden will be the new Presidential Reality Show® champion, thus injecting yet larger doses of monetary methadone to boost the sagging economy. Weakening jobs numbers also are pressuring Congress to expand...

AVIATION’S WOES TO IMPACT 46 MILLION JOBS WORLDWIDE. Of the 88 million jobs worldwide that depend fully or partly, directly or indirectly, on aviation, 46 million are likely to be lost temporarily or permanently, according to a 30 September report from the Geneva-based Air Transport Action Group. Airlines, airports, and aircraft makers alone will trim...

 MANUFACTURING STILL INCREASING AS HIRING STAGNATES. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 55.4 in September, the fourth consecutive month showing growing strength. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. However, the gauge was 7.3 percent below its February pre-pandemic level. The ISM’s hiring sub-index registered 49.6 in September, indicating factories...