Manufacturing growth eased from its breakneck pace in April as supply chain bottlenecks and material shortages increase backlogs and limit production efforts. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index eased to 60.7 in April from a 38-year high of 64.7 in March. Readings above 50 indicate an expansion, and readings below 50 indicate a ... READ MORE >
chart of the day
CHART OF THE DAY: Official unemployment number doesn’t tell full pandemic story
Friday’s headline January U3 (official) unemployment rate of 6.3% almost certainly undercounts the number of out-of-work people in the United States, not by design, but by the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic. Our estimate implies a real unemployment rate of 7.5%, which we acknowledge could be much higher -- closer to 8.5%. An analysis of the ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Number of unemployed persons per job falls to 2
Recovery of the domestic labor force continues as the number of unemployed persons per job opening in the United States fell to 1.95 in September while individuals continued to be recalled to work. Given the fact that 906,000 private sector workers were recalled in October with permanent job losses largely unchanged at 4.5 million, it is important to note ... READ MORE >