Retail sales grew by 4.92% year-over-year in January 2017, the third consecutive month of gains around 5%. It was the first time for three months near that level since 2014. Given the behavior of the economy in the second half of last year it is almost eerie the similarity in behavior to the 2013-14 period. The statistics for neither period [...]
Nowhere is the “dollar’s” effects more damaging than in any real economy dependent upon it. It is quite fitting that on a day when the PBOC surprises with a desperate move to reduce the RRR for big banks, who have already been for some time the outlet for massive RMB liquidity, Chinese officials release economic statistics that show little or [...]
Industrial production rose year-over-year in December 2016, the first plus sign in more than a year. For the month, IP was up 0.5% from the same month in 2015, following declines of 0.7% in each of the prior two months. In seasonally-adjusted, month-over-month terms, IP increased by 0.8% in December after being essentially flat for four months before. Under normal [...]
The term “brick and mortar” has come to be a mostly 21st century antonym for online shopping. It was first used in the banking industry as far back as the early 1970’s. Banks led the adoption of innovations, foreseeing the possible gains in communication technology and not just in the eurodollar context of “floating” currency (shadow banking). Computerization even at [...]
The Federal Reserve reported this week that consumer credit increased by $24.5 billion in November, the largest expansion since August and one of the biggest monthly changes in the data series. Non-revolving credit was actually subdued at least as compared to what has become typical. Revolving credit, on the other hand, surged by $11 billion. That was nearly as much [...]
Canada’s economy remains the distinct enigma of the developed world, where the binary business cycle breakdown is perhaps most conspicuous. When oil prices first crashed to end 2014 and start 2015, even economists expected Canada’s economy to suffer, so exposed as it was and remains to the energy sector. But after two rough quarters to begin last year, that was [...]
It was a 5% month for retail sales, the second such month this year. Overall retail sales grew by 5.3% year-over-year (NSA) in November 2016, the best growth since February. Ex autos, retail sales were up 5.1%, while retail trade expanded by 5.3%. These results, however, follow one of the weaker months of the entire data series, October, suggesting again [...]
Total factory orders in October 2016 were almost unchanged year-over-year (NSA) from those of October 2015, up just 0.5%. That was the second straight month of no growth, as factory orders in September were down just slightly, -0.1%, after being revised somewhat lower. Combining both September and October together, factory orders in those two months were 0.2% above the same [...]
Nominal personal spending grew by just over 4% in October 2016, a number that sounds impressive by virtue of what we have become used to in this economy. That was much less than the 5.2% in spending growth from the middle of 2014 just prior to the effects of the “rising dollar”, which was itself a low point for a [...]
Industrial production continued its slow, shallow contraction, unusual in any economic climate but perhaps more compelling here in describing the different direction markets are taking. Clearly, as discussed several times before, certain parts of certain markets are betting that different is going to be effective where the same old was clearly not. The actual economy, however, has yet to show [...]
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