Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

Compared to 2019, Boston’s weekday restaurant reservations are 78 percent fewer, foot traffic in stores is down by half, and hotel occupancy rates are 18.2 percent, according to data reported by the Boston Globe from a variety of sources. The city’s Planning and Development office shows that: people spend less than half as much time...

Although 56 percent of Americans expect to travel for pleasure this year, according to a January survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), hotel occupancy will remain at or below 50 percent through 2021, the association predicted. Business travel, the source of profit for most hotels, remains 85 percent lower than before the...

Last year, more homes sold in the U.S. than in any year since 2006. The sales spurt during the year’s second half, was, as we had forecast when the COVID War was launched last year, fueled by record-low interest rates, office workers sent home to work, and families seeking more spacious, less expensive “safer” digs...

Prices for corn, soy, and wheat have risen to six-year highs on strong exports to China, following a summer in which 40 percent of the U.S. was in drought, reducing yields. China has launched a major initiative to boost its domestic pork production; it also is seeking to fulfill its promise to the Trump administration...

The S&P 500 is trading in record-territory range, which is above 3,800, as investors are emboldened by strong quarterly earnings reports among banks, President Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus spending plan, and hopes of great progress in distributing COVID vaccines. The same sunny outlook has raised yields on 10-year U.S., treasury bonds from 0.9 percent at the...

Stock markets climbed after Janet Yellin, President Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, argued forcefully for increased stimulus spending in her 19 January confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate.  The U.S. risks a longer, harsher recession unless lawmakers “act big” to strengthen the recovery, Yellin said. The nation’s economic rebound is slowing, according to indicators that...

During the week of 15 January, 961,000 people filed new claims for state unemployment benefits, a number virtually unchanged from the previous week’s roster of 965,000. For the same week in 2019, there were 282,000 claims filed. This follows December’s 140,000 net loss, the first net monthly loss since last April. The persistence of layoffs...

Ready for the “Biden Bounce,” which will push equity markets higher and rapidly boost economic growth? According to the mainstream media and their “experts,” it’s coming soon. Pick up any newspaper. Tune into any broadcast media. Search the news online. Read the headlines. It’s all about the COVID Vaccination Campaign. The storyline is the same:...

OIL INDUSTRY CUTS MORE JOBS. Royal Dutch Shell is lopping 330 jobs from its North Sea operations over the next two years, most of them office slots in Aberdeen. About 1,500 Aberdeen workers already have taken voluntary buyout deals. Shell also is vaporizing 900 jobs from its Netherlands center, about 10 percent of that locale’s...