Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” a collection of business anecdotes and comments the central bank publishes eight times a year, confirms signs of an economic recovery and finds businesses’ optimism returning, according to the edition released on 3 March. “Economic activity expanded modestly from January to mid-February,” the Fed reported, and “most businesses remain...

With the dollar steady through late 2020, while down today, its value has grown 2 percent this year against the collection of major foreign currencies measured by the ICE Dollar Value Index. A strong dollar could dampen a global economic recovery, making U.S. products more expensive abroad and damaging emerging nations’ ability to repay dollar-based...

The U.S. economy created 379,000 net new jobs in February, 355,000 of which were in restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The leisure and hospitality industries cast off 500,000 jobs in December and January; therefore, the February gains signal a fundamental turn in the economy, some analysts say. The...

New claims for unemployment benefits rose to 745,000 in the week ended 27 February, up slightly from the previous week’s adjusted tally of 736,000 but slightly below analysts’ expectation of 750,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Private-sector employers added only 117,000 jobs in February, according to a 3 March report from ADP. That figure is...

As we have been noting since the COVID War began one year ago and most of the planet was locked down, it made absolutely no sense for the wide range of equities to keep hitting new highs. In the real world, the socio-economic devastation of draconian shelter-in-place orders is in front of everyone’s eyes. “For...

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, the largest U.S. tire maker, will pay $2.8 billion in cash and stock to buy Cooper Tire & Rubber, the second largest. The purchase would grow Goodyear to include 50 factories, a workforce of 72,000, and annual revenue of about $17.5 billion, according to the company’s presentation to investors. The combined...

In a measure of the plunging value of commercial real estate, fashion influencer Ralph Lauren is entering arbitration with the owners of 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Lauren leased the prime, ground-floor retail spot in 2017, agreeing to $27 million in annual rent but since has abandoned the space. To stanch some of its cash...

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages rose to 2.81 percent during the week ending 18 February, the highest rate in three months, according to the Freddie Mac financing agency. In tandem that week, various measures of mortgage and refinancing activity dropped 11.6 and 11.3 percent respectively, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) noted. “Rates...

The federal ban on evictions imposed last September by the Trump administration and CDC is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Texas has ruled. The ruling favors a group of Texas landlords and property owners who sued in October to void the ban, contending that the federal government’s executive branch lacks authority to ban evictions.  Judge...

The U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise benchmark interest rates from their current levels near zero until three conditions are met, Fed chair Jerome Powell said in Congressional testimony on 24 February. First, a broad range of statistical measures must show the labor market has returned to full strength. Second, inflation must rise to 2...