Employment situation still treading water

Good morning folks! I hope that this message finds you doing well. That scion of payroll, ADP, tracks unemployment privately, in addition to efforts by the U.S. government. Today, ADP said that the U.S. economy lost 22,000 private sector jobs in January. This figure...

Consumer income exceeds spending (!)

News today from the Commerce Department says that consumer incomes rose 0.4% in December. Yet, despite this, consumer spending only rose 0.2%. I consider this to be good long-term news. Analysis: Quick, what got us into the economic debacle of the past two years? Many...

Media distortion of GDP report

First, if you haven’t read my GDP post below, do that first then come back here. The media are taking the 5.7% GDP growth figure and running with it. For example, CNN is saying, “Best economic growth in years.” Huh? Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal...

GDP figures misleading

Friday saw the first pass at estimating U.S. GDP for the fourth quarter and the number looks outstanding. GDP grew 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Analysis: To put that 5.7% figure into perspective you need to know that on average GDP grows around 3% +/- 1.5%. That is,...