Joe Brusuelas

After rising .5% in July, all consumer items tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics rose .3% in August. Over the year, all consumer items have risen 5.3%.  What Happened: Over the last year, the biggest complaint — and concern — for consumers and some economists...

Weekly seasonally adjusted employment insurance claims were down again as of Sept. 4, hitting a low of 310,000, down 35,000 week-over-week. This is the lowest that claims have been since March 2020, when the figure 256,000 claims, according to the latest Department of Labor statistics....

The infrastructure deal and the Build Back Better plan — which could be passed through reconciliation due to a lack of support in Congress — is part of the ongoing inflation debate. Essentially, the question is whether inflation will continue to increase, or moderate...

Initial jobless claims were down by 14,000 to 385,000 during the week ending July 31, and the insured unemployment rate was at 2.1%, according to the most recent Department of Labor report. Jobless claims have continued to drop, but the improvement appears to be slowing. “Jobless...

In the last four decades, the prevailing economic wisdom has emphasized tax cuts and low government spending, allowing the free market to solve most economic problems. But the Biden administration is looking to change that. The Senate Spending Package: In addition to investing...

The Federal Reserve shifted market expectations in a significant way on Wednesday with its updated dot plot projections and commentary related to inflation. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is down 2% since Tuesday’s close, and the yield curve in U.S. Treasuries has flattened...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is up more than 86% since the S&P hit its pandemic low in March 2020. While some investors are growing skeptical of the market’s expanding valuation, others argue the unprecedented conditions in the global economy have created a perfect storm for...

For the week ending July 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 1,314,000, representing a 99,000-claim week-over-week drop, according to the Labor Department.  What Happened: Initial jobless claims are slowly decreasing, but it's still the...

Americans made 1.480 million initial jobless claims in the week ending June 20, a decrease of 60,000 from the prior week, the Department of Labor said Thursday. The figure exceeded the 1.3 million initial claims expected by economists.  What Happened: Initial unemployment claims topped 1...

Americans made 1.5 million new jobless claims in the week ending June 13, down 58,000 from the prior week, the Department of Labor said Thursday. The consensus expectation was for 1.3 million new filings.  The prior week's number was revised upward by 24,000 claims.  Layoffs Slowing:...

Despite a rising death toll and more than 20,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in China, U.S. stocks came roaring back on Tuesday, seemingly shrugging off concerns that the virus could weigh on the Chinese economy and potentially negatively impact the entire global financial system....

Negative-yielding sovereign debt levels now exceed $15 trillion, and negative-yielding corporate debt is now greater than $1 trillion around the world. With the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the second time this year, investors are growing increasingly concerned that U.S. interest...

In a move that was widely expected, the Federal Reserve issued its first 0.25% interest rate cut since 2008 on Wednesday. Despite the cut, the Fed reassured investors that the U.S. economy is solid and the labor market remains strong. “In light of the implications of global developments for...

For the second straight morning, U.S. investors concerned about an imminent recession received data suggesting the economy is stronger than expected. The S&P 500 traded higher on Friday morning after the U.S. jobs market bounced back from a relatively weak November reading and exceeded...

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve delivered the interest rate hike the markets were expecting. The Fed announced it will be upping the fed funds target rate by 0.25 percent to a range of 2.25-2.50 percent. “The Committee judges that some further gradual increases in the target range for the...