Lately Americans have been experiencing a whole lot of pain. Crippling prices at the pumps, pain at the grocery store and more recently a new strain has manifested itself at Wal-Mart check out counters. But a new development in the global market will have Americans prolonging the agony of high […]
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Can Anything Slow Online Retail Sales?
Edwin Long is a self-proclaimed video game junkie. Long, a 26-year-old store clerk, has purchased more than 50 brand new games over the past year. Those 50 games are the most he’s ever bought, even though he’s not making more money compared to the year before, the suggested price of […]
A Good Indicator of Growth
The latest jobs numbers show that nonfarm payrolls rose by 216,000 in March and the private sector added 230,000 jobs. “Any monthly job gain over 200,000 is a good indicator of growth as it is generally seen as job gains greater than the replacement rate,” said labor market analyst Elena […]
Signs of Life in the Job Market
Amy Berson-Sayers has been unemployed since March of 2008. She recently admitted that shortly after her 99 weeks of unemployment benefits ran out, she stopped searching for a job. Even when she was spurred on to look for work, she did it “half-assedly.” “It was ridiculous,” said Ms. Berson-Sayers, 52, […]
Consumer Confidence in March Shaken By Inflation Fears
U.S. consumer confidence was dealt a gut-wrenching blow in March, falling to 63.4 from a three-year high of 70.4 in February, the biggest one month decline in over a year. While U.S. consumers may have been able to shrug off a trifecta of disasters in Japan, a viral series of […]
Washington Fix Unlikely Even As Home Prices Fall
Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a fifth-term Democrat from California’s Central Valley, doesn’t need an economic indicator to describe the state of the housing market. Three cities in his district—Modesto, Stockton and Merced—have foreclosure rates among the ten worst in the country. Seventy percent of Central Valley homeowners are underwater on their […]
Manufacturers Leading Recovery Despite Inflation
Prices for raw materials have skyrocketed but manufacturers are still charging forward. The manufacturing sector has a number of things going for it. The auto and machinery industries are doing quite nicely. Firms are cash rich right now and beginning to hire again. Also, a tax break that comes into […]
Fed Says ‘Inflations Ok’ But Higher Food Prices Strain Citizens
“Can I get the 2 for $3,” said 64-year-old Sarah Cabezas. “It’s 2 for $4 now,” retorted the McDonalds cashier. “What? When did it go up?” the befuddled high school teacher exclaimed. Cabezas’s exclamation was a first-hand account of the sudden but painful pinch of inflation. The Labor Department said […]
Japan Crisis Will Push Down the LEI
The Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) moved up to .08 from .01. However it will falter when March’s LEI is released because of the unexpected rise in oil prices caused by the unrest in the Middle East and especially the crisis in Japan. “The increase of gas prices affects […]
Food and energy prices soar
In the desserts aisle of a bustling Manhattan grocery store, South Carolina natives Nancy and Keith Huffaker place a box of assorted cookies in their shopping basket. They’ve come out to satisfy their after-dinner sweet tooth and though they admit the prices are higher in New York, they don’t believe […]