Rising energy and gasoline prices accounted for roughly half of the 0.6% increase month over month inside the June Consumer Price Index report and should prove transient due to easing demand on the back of an intensifying pandemic. … READ MORE >
Policy uncertainty and the costs of prolonging the pandemic
Loss of income and tax revenue from the 50 million who applied for unemployment benefits during the 16 weeks of the economic shutdown directly contributes to the growing uncertainty. … READ MORE >
Cumulative jobless claims pass 6 million in California and 3 million in Florida
In a week that the cumulative number of people registering for unemployment benefits passed 50 million, California has now processed more than 6 million initial claims and Florida passed the 3 million mark. … READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims: 50 million and counting
Roughly 50 million Americans have filed first-time jobless claims over the past four months, while for the week ending July 4 an additional 1.31 million have filed for unemployment insurance. … READ MORE >
Pandemic choice: Reopening schools and the economy
We continue to make the case that until there is a national testing, tracing and treatment regime in place, any talk of economic recovery is premature at best. The same could be said of the reopening of schools. … READ MORE >
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rise in 25 states
There were increases in the number of newly filed claims for unemployment benefits in 25 states during the week ending June 27. Thirteen of those states reported increases that were significantly above normal levels. … READ MORE >
June U.S. employment report: Encouragement, concern and outright skepticism
Total employment increased by an encouraging 4.8 million workers in June as the U.S. economy continues what will be a multiyear period of recovery in the American labor market. But this is not the time to pull back aid to those out of work. … READ MORE >
The worst may be over for the manufacturing sector, but industry remains cautious
The RSM Manufacturing Outlook Index is reporting a remarkable rebound of sentiment in the U.S. manufacturing industry. But while the worst might be behind us, the index remains slightly negative at nearly 0.3 standard deviations below normal conditions, which suggests that a national recovery has yet to materialize. Moreover, damage … … READ MORE >
U.S. jobs report: Will June data already be out of date by the time it’s published?
We expect an increase of 3.1 million in total employment, led by workers who have been called back to their jobs, and a decrease to 12.2% in the unemployment rate when the jobs data for June is released on Thursday. … READ MORE >
Houston we have a problem: A rising curve of coronavirus infections
Notions of an easing pandemic ought to be gently dismissed as the pace of newly reported coronavirus cases appears ready to breach the April peak amid the accelerating spread of the virus around the country. … READ MORE >









