Viewpoints: 2019

State labor markets were on the soft side in September. Only three states (Hawaii, Idaho, and Kentucky—clearly a group with little in common!) reported statistically significant gains, while two (New Hampshire and Virginia) had [...]

After 18 months of negotiations, the trade talks ended with the US achieving very little. It is wrong to call this a "trade" deal, let alone a "substantial " one since the focus, almost exclusively, of the Trump Administration has [...]

Is it possible for a policy recession to occur when successive rounds of policy-stimulus have worked to extend the economic cycle and the policy-fuel runs out or cannot be provided in the same scale? We may soon find out. The current [...]

Is it possible for a policy recession to occur when successive rounds of policy-stimulus have worked to extend the economic cycle and the policy-fuel runs out or cannot be provided in the same scale? We may soon find out. The current [...]

In September, payroll employment rose close to consensus estimates and the jobless rate dropped to a 50-year low, easing fears, at least for the moment, of a broad slump in hiring and a deep economic slowdown. Yet, the employment [...]

BEA has released estimates of current-dollar consumer spending by state for calendar year 2018, along with revised figures for earlier years. It's useful to keep in mind what these figures are and are not: 1. As noted, they are annual [...]

The profits puzzle is no more. A recent report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) stated that the primary reason that the GDP measure of operating profits does not show the "large run-up in profits" in other "popular measures" [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's estimates of state coincident activity for August show some increased dispersion and, overall, some signs of softening in economic growth. Over the last 12 months, 29 states show increases in [...]