U.S. Consumer Confidence and U.S. Unemployment A tight U.S. labor market and low interest rates should continue to support U.S. consumer confidence and spending. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
U.S. Consumer Sentiment The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is more sensitive to financial markets, whereas the Conference Board Index reflects labor market conditions. Image: J.P. Morgan
Job Openings and Average Weekly Hours The number of job openings fell in August, mirroring the decline in average weekly hours, and confirming that the U.S. labor market is cooling. Image: TD Bank Financial Group
San Francisco Fed Leading Unemployment Rate Does the San Francisco Fed Leading Unemployment Rate signal a turning point in the U.S. labor market? Image: Merk Investments
Why the Unemployment Rate to 3.6% in April 2019 Is Not So Great? Well, the unemployment level is the lowest since 1969, but when we compare the level of unemployment plus people not in the labor force, to the level of employment, the picture is not so rosy. Ouch!
Which Country Has the Highest Density of Robot Workers? South Korea had 710 installed industrial robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry in 2017. When robots replace manual labor, the productivity and the quality of products increase dramatically. Robots increase labor productivity levels and won’t take all the jobs. Image: Statista
Why Is Core Inflation So Low Compared To Previous Business Cycles? The Consumer Price Index Less Food & Energy (Core CPI) is very low compared to previous business cycles in the US, for several reasons: – not fast-rising money supply – globalization: inflation is a global phenomenon – lack of wage acceleration – increase in…
Visualizing How Americans Spend Their Money The Consumer Expenditure Survey is a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey that collects information on the buying habits of U.S. consumers. Image: howmuch.net
Why U.S. Productivity Is Lower Than Previous Business Cycles? The real yield is the most important measure of financial tightness. But as the real yield is near zero, artificially low interest rates are then associated with unnecessary debt, zombie firms and lower productivity than previous business cycles. Zombie firms cannot invest, innovate and increase productivity. …