Americans’ ratings of their personal finances advanced this week to entirely erase their pandemic losses, lifting the overall Consumer Comfort Index to a 13-month peak. Economic expectations gained as well, to their best in 15 months. CONTINUED — pdf Langer Research Associates The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of […] Read more »
Consumer confidence tumbled in early May
Consumer confidence in early May tumbled due to higher inflation–the highest expected year-ahead inflation rate as well as the highest long term inflation rate in the past decade. Rising inflation also meant that real income expectations were the weakest in five years. CONTINUED University of Michigan The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is […] Read more »
Covid job losses hit working mothers especially hard
The Covid-19 pandemic hammered the U.S. economy, taking jobs away across the board, but some workers have faced a harder path — and women have faced some special challenges. A lot of the jobs that were lost in the service sector, in businesses like restaurants and hotels, were held by […] Read more »
Can Reality Live Up To Expectations?
All indicators right now point to “go.” Americans have never been more optimistic about their financial futures, and many are busy planning social, active summers. But the recent April jobs report suggests that we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves. Jobs growth was much slower than projected, and unemployment […] Read more »
Bidenomics Really Is Something New
Some of the changes are obvious: Compared with the economic strategies of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Joe Biden is proposing more new spending and more new taxes than either of his Democratic predecessors, and he’s abandoned their support for negotiating new free-trade agreements. But Biden is also […] Read more »
U.S. Economy Optimism Slips As High Earners React To Biden Tax Hikes: IBD/TIPP
Optimism over the U.S. economy took a step back over the past month, and IBD/TIPP polling points to proposed Biden tax hikes as a likely reason. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, an early monthly read on consumer confidence, slipped 2 points to 54.4 in May, after hitting a Covid-era high […] Read more »