NEWS ABOUT: economic indicators
economic indicators stories: 35 news briefs
Firms split on whether the bottom has been reached
Wall Street Journal Apr 22, 09 6:06 AM CDT
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Some major companies are slowly becoming optimistic about the economy again, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delta Airlines says seat sales are almost at the level they were a year ago and United Technologies says its decline in orders is stabilizing. Intel is among the most upbeat, saying "the worst is now behind us" and no drop in revenue is expected this quarter.
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Stimulus package or not, underwear metric indicates downturn
Huffington Post Apr 9, 09 9:41 AM CDT
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More bad news, this time from the men’s underwear department. One of former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s favorite metrics for predicting changes in consumer spending was the sales of men’s skivvies, the Huffington Post reports. It seems that sales are projected to decline 2.3% this year, revised down from a previous forecast of 2.6% growth.
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OPINION
Positive indicators, better policy, historical benchmarks; the time is right for a bottom
BusinessWeek Mar 26, 09 9:07 AM CDT
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The tentative rally on Wall Street is reason enough for one economist to feel hopeful: "I’m ready to take another shot at calling the bottom," writes Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. Since (apparently) bottoming out March 9, stocks have risen 20%, and the reasons behind the climb are genuine. Better policy, signs of economic revival, and historical data all point toward a possible sustained boost.
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Bloomberg Mar 6, 09 7:54 AM CST
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Unemployment hit 8.1% in February, its highest level since late 1983, as employers cut 651,000 jobs, the government said today. That’s worse than the 7.9% analysts predicted, thanks to revised numbers from January and December that were much worse than originally reported. December’s revised loss of 681,000 jobs makes it the worst month since October 1949, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Associated Press Feb 27, 09 8:09 AM CST
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The US economy contracted at a staggering 6.2% pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in more than a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession. That's drastically worse than the 3.8% the government originally estimated, and the 5.4% economists predicted. Looking ahead, economists predict consumers and businesses will keep cutting back spending, making the first six months of this year especially rocky.
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1% drop greater than forecast; 6 straight months of decline
Bloomberg Feb 2, 09 9:06 AM CST
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Consumer spending fell in December to finish off its worst year since 1961, Bloomberg reports. Purchases fell 1%, topping analyst estimates of a 0.9% decline. It was the record sixth consecutive month spending has fallen, and that streak may get longer, one economist predicted. Thanks to nearly 2.6 million job losses last year, he says, “further declines are likely in coming quarters.”
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Did you ever suspect they'd go down? Me either
Associated Press Jan 22, 09 8:09 AM CST
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The number of new claims for jobless benefits jumped more than expected last week, as companies continue to cut jobs at a furious pace. The Labor Department reported today that initial claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 589,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 527,000 the previous week. The tally was well above Wall Street economists' expectations of 540,000 new claims.
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Analysis
But downturn will definitely get worse, and only big stimulus will limit its depth
New York Times Jan 21, 09 10:29 AM CST
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We’ve heard a lot lately about how this recession is the worst since the 1980s, or even since the Great Depression, so David Leonhardt, in the New York Times , tries to get some perspective. Using jobs data as his main metric, Leonhardt finds things aren’t nearly as bad as they were in 1982—but they could get there in a hurry.
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Fall twice as far as anticipated
Bloomberg Jan 14, 09 8:38 AM CST
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Retail sales fell more than twice as much as analysts predicted in December, thanks to mounting job losses and reduced credit, Bloomberg reports. Sales fell 2.7%, extending the longest string of declines on record to 6 consecutive months. Purchases excluding automobiles slid 3.1%. “Consumers are pulling back,” said one economist. “The first half is going to be bleak in terms of consumer spending and economic activity.”
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Economy
Bloomberg Dec 5, 08 8:24 AM CST
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November saw 553,000 Americans lose their jobs, according to a Labor Department non-farm payrolls report, the steepest drop in 34 years. The number exceeded even the grimmest predictions in Bloomberg’s survey of 73 analysts. “The labor market capsized in November,” said one economist. “The financial panic has hammered the economy, and we are seeing a very broad-based decline in payrolls.”
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Non-traditional measurement based on employment, other statistics
MarketWatch Dec 1, 08 12:51 PM CST
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The US economy has been in a recession since employment peaked in December 2007, a committee of economists declared today. However, MarketWatch notes, the private National Bureau of Economic Research rejects the traditional metric that recession is defined as consecutive quarters of GDP decline, opting instead to look at four key monthly indicators, including employment, industrial output, and sales.
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Oil's record decline leads to 1% overall drop
Associated Press Nov 19, 08 9:07 AM CST
(AP Summary) -
Consumer prices in the United States plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline prices dropped by a record amount. The Labor Department said today that consumer prices fell by 1% last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February 1947. The drop was twice as large as the 0.5% decline analysts expected.
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MARKET Open
To be fair, they've already had the worst two-day stretch since 1987
Wall Street Journal Nov 7, 08 8:54 AM CST
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The economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, bringing unemployment to 6.5%, its highest rate since 1994. It was the 10th-straight negative month, bringing the year’s losses to 1.2 million. But the staggering report did little to move the needle on Wall Street, as the Dow actually rose 136 points before settling back. The S&P and Nasdaq saw similar modest gains of 1.3% and 1.4% respectively.
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MARKETS
Drop isn't as bad as feared, and rate cuts abroad cheer US traders
Wall Street Journal Oct 30, 08 9:07 AM CDT
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Stocks jumped at the opening bell, as international rallies helped offset a shrinking US economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gross domestic product shrank at a seasonally adjusted 0.3% annual rate from July to September; the not-as-bad-as-feared figure sent the Dow up 201 points at the open before dipping back downward. The S&P and Nasdaq saw 1.8% and 2.5% gains of their own.
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Signs point to drop in consumer spending, deepening downturn
Bloomberg Oct 28, 08 10:07 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Consumer confidence hit a record low in October, Bloomberg reports, raising the specter that spending will slow significantly. The Conference Board’s index dove to 38, the lowest reading since the metric’s inception in 1967, and far worse than analysts expected. With the stock markets volatile, home equity deteriorating, and job losses piling up, household wealth has been hit hard.
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MARKETS
Good results from Coke, JP Morgan drowned out
MarketWatch Oct 15, 08 9:02 AM CDT
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The bears came out on Wall Street this morning, sending the Dow down 181 at the bell, as a host of negative economic reports drowned out some positive third-quarter results. Retail sales were worse than expected in September, and several other indexes showed manufacturing activity down. The S&P and Nasdaq dropped 2.9% and 1.9% respectively.
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Employers may have shed 75,000 posts
Bloomberg Sep 5, 08 2:00 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Stocks fell in Europe and Asia today, marking the worst weekly slump in 6 years, according to the MSCI World Index. Markets were depressed by grim news expected in the latest US employment report due out this morning, reports Bloomberg. Economists predict figures will show a US loss of 75,000 jobs last month—the worst drop in almost 5 years. "The labor market pretty much hit the skids in August,'' said an analyst.
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Economy
Associated Press Aug 14, 08 9:07 AM CDT
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US consumer prices shot up 0.8% in July, twice the expected rate, pushed higher by surging energy and food costs, the AP reports. The spike left inflation running at 5.6%, the fastest pace in 17 years, the Labor Department reported today. It marked the third straight month of soaring prices, following jumps of 0.6% in May and 1.1% in June.
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Economy
Mounting layoffs lead to surprise jump in claims, report says
Associated Press Aug 7, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(AP Summary) -
The number of newly laid off Americans signing up for jobless benefits last week unexpectedly climbed to its highest point in more than 6 years as the faltering US economy forced companies to cut back. The Labor Department reported today that new applications filed for unemployment rose by 7,000 to 455,000, their highest level since late March 2002.
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Economy
Employers cut 51,000 jobs in July, 463,000 this year
Associated Press Aug 1, 08 9:17 AM CDT
(AP Summary) -
The unemployment rate in the US climbed to a 4-year high of 5.7% in July as employers cut 51,000 jobs, dashing the hopes of an influx of young people looking for summer work. Payroll cuts weren't as deep as the 72,000 predicted by economists, however, and job losses for both May and June were found to be smaller than previously reported.
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