The US labor market slammed into reverse last month, December’s hotly-anticipated NFP report showed. The world’s largest economy shed 140,000 jobs in the final month
Category: economy
Once Mighty US Services Sector Held Up During Winter COVID Surge, Irrelevant Numbers Suggest
Miraculously, ISM services managed to print a solid upside surprise for December. I say “miraculously” — it’s hard to know what’s surprising and what isn’t
Almost 10 Months Later, Jobless Claims Remain Stuck Above Pre-Pandemic Record Highs
787,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, 3,000 more than the previous week’s revised level. Consensus was looking for 800,000. The latest “real-time” read
ADP Posts Horrendous Miss As Employers Shed 123,000 Jobs
With markets focused intently on political developments stateside, Wednesday’s data was sure to get short shrift. With that obligatory caveat, ADP was a big miss.
Aaaand You’re Bankrupt. Thanks, COVID
Well, the final numbers are in. Chapter 11 and 7 filings for large companies (defined here as public and private enterprises with liabilities greater than
Bring On The Stagflation Jokes (Because Misery Is ‘Funny’)
Well, the US manufacturing sector is apparently on fire — in a good way, with the caveat that inflationary pressures continue to build. December’s ISM
Manufacturers Are Manufacturing. Which Is Good
Factory check! Because nothing’s more exciting on the first day of trading in a brand new year than a deluge of bland PMIs. Although it
Painful Dynamics (Tragedy Of The Excluded)
Late last month, in “‘Superfluous People’ And The Arraignment Of Capitalism,” I cited economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, whose book “Deaths
What To Expect From The First Week Of The Rest Of Our Lives
The first week of the new year promises no shortage of melodrama in the US, where the Georgia runoffs will determine control of the Senate
Dogma
On Saturday, after putting the finishing touches on “Something Crazy In The Air’ (Fried Egg),” I took a quick virtual stroll over to Pew to
‘Something Crazy In The Air’ (Fried Egg)
Last month, Larry Summers fretted that “when you see the two extremes agreeing you can almost be certain that something crazy is in the air.”
Unintended Consequences: US Housing Bubble Edition
Ostensibly, record-low mortgage rates help make homes more affordable, but surging prices have put homeownership out of reach for many Americans. Or at least that’s
D-Lister Forces Delistings After Three Years Of Decoupling
Say goodbye to the US listings of China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. The state-controlled firms will be booted from the NYSE as of
2020 Was An Especially Good Year To Be Rich
2020 was a good year to be rich. I mean, every year is a good year to be rich in many respects, although being rich
Many Marvels: The Year In Corporate Credit
One the many marvels of 2020 was the US corporate bond market, where borrowers were able to access cheap money in record amounts despite (or
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