FEATURED POST

November 4, 2024

When the economic data is confusing, take a closer look

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that private employers had shed 28,000 jobs in October. Just days earlier, ADP data had shown that the private sector had added 233,000 jobs. It’s enough to give anyone mental whiplash. But the numbers beg an obvious question: Is the economy strengthening, or weakening?
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August 22, 2022

MainStreet Macro: Jackson Hole: Another Trip down the Snake River

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Every year at this time, the Federal Reserve holds its high-profile annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Some 120 central bankers, finance leaders, and academics gather to discuss wonky but important global issues. The highlight of the event is a Friday morning speech given by the head of the Federal Reserve – Jay Powell. It’s the only public part of the conference.
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August 15, 2022

MainStreet Macro: Inflation-Tag team

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Main Street received good news last week. Not only did we see a slight cool-down to our national summer heat wave, we learned that inflation dipped, to 8.5 percent over the last 12 months ending in July from 9.1 percent for the same period in June.
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July 25, 2022

MainStreet Macro: Hot Summer Housing Market

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

With most of the country withering in the summer heat, one sector of the economy appears to be cooling. After home prices took off in the early days of the pandemic, the white-hot housing market now appears to be cooling as sales slow.
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July 18, 2022

MainStreet Macro: Wages Go Prime Time: Part 2

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

My kids are into memes and have been since, well, the beginning of meme history. Given that my husband and I both are economists, it was only natural that a recent family dinner conversation centered around which meme would best represent inflation.
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July 11, 2022

MainStreet Macro: Wages go prime time: Part 1

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Wages are the bridge between job growth and rising inflation, and their trajectory will determine whether the Federal Reserve can put the brakes on rising prices without skidding the economy into recession. To that end, the central bank is eying one particular data point with new intensity.
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June 27, 2022

MainStreet Macro: A Penny Saved

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Savings accounts were the unsung heroes of the pandemic recovery. The personal saving rate – the share of a person’s disposable income left after taxes and spending on necessities and everything else – soared to a record of almost 34 percent in April 2020. That means people saved 34 cents for every dollar earned in the early days of the pandemic.
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