Joe Brusuelas

The Labor Department reported U.S. payrolls climbed by a seasonally adjusted 160,000 in April, the weakest monthly gain since September. The unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent, but the jobs report was certainly on the weak side. What does the sluggish report it mean for the stock market...

U.S. jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 253,000 last week to their lowest level since November 1973. The surprise drop is certainly good news for a U.S. economy that investors have been concerned is softening in the face of international weakness. The S&P 500 has reacted somewhat positively...

The much-anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate decision is in, and U.S. central bankers have decided to maintain the FFR range at 0.25 to 0.50 basis points, while keeping the discount rate at 1.00 percent. While the Fed did say they see indicators of a strengthening labor market (along with...

U.S. retail and food services sales for February fell 0.1 percent versus consensus estimate of 0.2 percent drop. The data from Commerce Department shows that the December 2015 to January 2016 percent change was revised from up 0.2 percent to down 0.4 percent. The recent data on retail sales may...

RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas said the United States is poised to outperform the Eurozone not only in growth, but also in hiring and diverging inflation readings, as the U.S. economy is rebounding and the inventory correction that caused much of the quarter to quarter volatility in 2015 GDP...

Initial jobless claims increased by 6,000 over last week, according to Department of Labor data released Thursday morning. 278,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week. Estimates pegged the number at 271,000. The four-week moving jobless claim fell 1,750 to 207,250....

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner threw his support behind efforts in Congress to end the decades-old ban on crude oil exports on Thursday. The United States prohibited itself from selling oil to foreigners – with some exceptions – during the 1970s, at a time when policymakers wanted to...

The nationwide push toward a $15 minimum wage marched forward on Wednesday. University of California President Janet Napolitano announced that the network of schools would raise its minimum wage for employees working at least 20 hours a week to $15 per hour by 2017. The UC school system employs...

The numbers demand Donald Trump be taken seriously, at least for the time being. According to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, Trump is the clear alpha within the Republican pack; 24 percent of registered GOP members and right-leaning voters listed the real estate tycoon as their...

It's safe to say that Chinese markets are in the midst of a crisis. And that's probably the only thing safe about the country's economy right now, which some are comparing to the United States circa 1929. The Shanghai Composite Index has plummeted 28 percent since mid-June, after 150 percent...

The Associated Press reported Friday morning that Russia was actively considering extending financial aid to Greece. "If the Greeks ask for a loan then we will consider it, but they have not yet asked," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told the AP...

The Federal Open Market Commission released its updated economic projections for the next two years on Wednesday, slashing GDP forecasts for 2015, while showing a mildly hawkish medium-to-long-term outlook on the economy. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced that it would keep interest...

Two interest rate hikes would be appropriate this year and at least two more in early 2016, an economist said Wednesday, citing current economic conditions. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist for the New York tax and consulting service McGladrey LLP, said one thing that might derail a September...

Friday morning, Wall Street’s eyes will collectively be fixated on the April employment report due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. After a disappointing March number, the April jobs report could provide some clarity about the timetable for the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike. Here...