Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyAre We Saving More?According to the latest revised data, we are indeed saving more—a lot more. It was held that the average U.S. person had a savings rate of about 3.2%, but the revised numbers have this rate at about 7.2%, nearly twice. The revision comes after looking again at expenditures and checking some ass...

A company is only as good as its employees, and if they don't have the proper skills to do their job, business becomes much more complicated. According to new research, a vast majority of Canadian corporate hiring managers in the technology sector said they are having trouble making "the right hire," specifically finding employees who have the skil...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyHousing Bounceback but Not Much of One The June housing numbers were very weak. That set off a number of alarm bells from those who have been watching the impact of the housing sector on the U.S. economy. Most of the analysts were convinced that July would be a lot better. The consensus view was that there would ...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyOne Out of Three Ain't Bad There are three elements involved in U.S. industrial production numbers—somewhat related, but not precisely. The most important part is manufacturing. The second most important is the mining category as this includes the development of oil and gas reserves. The third leg of this tool is...

Just as accountants experience a busy time of year during tax season, small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit managers in the United Kingdom are finding their summers cut short to spend more time hunting down late payments. In fact, 60% of U.K. SMBs are exchanging summer holidays for more workdays dedicated to the task, according to Online P...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomySmall Strong Retail Start to July After cresting slightly above 4% in the second quarter, there has been endless speculation among economists over whether this rate of growth will be repeated in Q3. Roughly half think that Q2 was the peak and roughly half hold that this is just the start of things to come. The ke...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyWill Populism End the Bull Market? The U.S. stock market is about to set an important record—it will be the longest bull market in U.S. history. It has certainly had its ups and downs, but has been exceedingly resilient as it has shaken off many of the issues that seemed poised to end the run. The investment comm...

Small businesses can breathe a sigh of relief moving forward as this past month saw a rise in expansion and higher nominal sales, according to the National Federation of Independent Business' (NFIB) July Small Business Optimism Index. The index reached a near-record high of 107.9, just one-tenth of a point shy of the highest record ever recorded, w...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyEnjoy It While It Lasts The second quarter numbers did not really astonish people as there had been more than enough signaling that something good was in the offing. It would have been a very bad thing had there not been a reaction given the stimulus that was coming from the tax cuts. At the start of the year, th...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomySmall Jump in Consumer Inflation Yesterday, we talked about the stability of the Producer Price Index (PPI) and commented that it involves a lot of variables. The Consumer Price Index was also subdued with a gain of just 0.2%. This was slightly more than the action in the PPI, but far from cause for real alarm. T...

Nonresidential construction spending is expected to take a step back in 2019 compared to 2018; however, overall nonresidential building is still predicted to grow. At the start of the year, economists from different firms polled by The American Institute of Architects (AIA), said views have changed for the better, according to the recently released...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyNo Change in Producer Prices This Month The level of producer prices stayed the same as it was last month; a bit of a surprise given all the turmoil that has surrounded tariffs and trade wars. It was thought that steel and aluminum would further jump start these prices, but apparently, the hikes were registered l...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyWarfare Accelerates The U.S. will have imposed tariffs on some $50 billion worth of Chinese goods by the end of the month. Meanwhile, more of these taxes have been promised by an administration that still insists they are "winning" this war. China has been responding in kind and has imposed tariffs on a like amou...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyRight to Work Litmus Test in Missouri In 2017, the legislature in Missouri made the state a "right to work" state. Now the issue is on the ballot. It has become a national test for unions, while there has been an incredible amount of money spent to overturn the decision. The basic issue is whether somebody should...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyGood but Not Great News on Jobs Nothing was wrong with the latest job numbers. There was a gain of 156,000 and the unemployment rate has fallen back down to 3.9% after having risen back to 4% the previous month. The criticism is that these numbers are a little lower than they were the month before. Over the past ...

Technology is a blessing and a curse, and at the moment, it is more of the latter for Apple. On Aug. 3, one of Apple's suppliers suffered a computer virus outbreak, which CNBC reports may lead to shipment delays on behalf of the supplier. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) manufactures the chip processors used in Apple iPhones.According ...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyJobless Rate Alters Slightly but No Surprises There was not a lot of shock value to the jobless total this time around. The rate of unemployment fell a little from 4% to 3.8%. There were not quite as many new employees as had been the norm. The expectation had been that another 200,000 would be added, but this mo...

The trade and tariff wars continue between the U.S. and China, this time with China threatening new tariffs. China announced Aug. 3 it will impose a retaliatory tariff on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, according to a recent Reuters article. The tariffs will affect liquefied natural gas (LNG) and select aircraft, with China threatening to add...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyEconomic Game of Chicken There have been many phases of the trade war between the U.S. and China. In the beginning, it was thought to be posturing by both sides in anticipation of some kind of mutually acceptable deal. Then, it started to get serious with the U.S. imposition of tariffs and the Chinese countering ...

After steadily increasing over the past year, construction spending in June 2018 set the industry back a step month-over-month (MoM), yet maintained decent figures year-over-year (YOY). On August 1, MarketWatch reported about a 1% drop in June construction spending but more than a 6% climb since last year.Revised calculations revealed a MoM increas...