US Consumer Credit Growth Slows as Credit Card Balances Decline U.S. consumer credit increased by $8.3 billion in August, well below expectations of $14.5 billion and less than half July's $17.7…...

US Mortgage Rates Hit 7.49% and Reach Highest Level in Nearly Three Years The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose 19 basis points to 7.49% last week, according to the Mortgage… | T...

Apple’s Smart Home Push Includes Doorbell, Lock, Thermostat Codeveloped With LG | Thomas J Thompson

Strikes, School Blockades and Fiscal Turmoil Grip France I woke up this morning to images of protests across France. Students were blockading schools, public workers were preparing to strike and… | T...

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Kick Off Today as Consumers Hunt for Deals Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days begin today, and what started as another retailer promotion has become something much bigger… | Thom...

US Services Keep Growing as Price Pressures Hit Four-Year High The U.S. services economy continued to expand in September, even as businesses reported the strongest price pressures since July 2022.… ...

The 4.2% Unemployment Rate Is Hiding a Bigger Story I posted about this morning’s jobs report earlier this morning, and now that I’ve had some time to dig deeper into the data I think the… | Thomas J...

US Job Growth Slows to 29,000 as Unemployment Rises to 4.2% The U.S. added just 29,000 jobs in September, far below the roughly 90,000 economists expected, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly… |...

Layoffs are low . . . so where are the jobs? Initial jobless claims came in at 197,000 last week, below the 201,000 economists expected and the lowest level since July. The previous week was revised…...

US Job Cuts Fall to Lowest September Since 2022 U.S. employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, down 18% from August and 20% from a year ago, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc...

Consumer Spending Rises by the Most in 17 Months U.S. consumers accelerated spending sharply in August, with inflation-adjusted personal consumption expenditures rising 0.6% from July, the largest… |...

U.S. Private Hiring More Than Doubles in September U.S. private employers added 90,000 jobs in September, according to ADP, above the 75,000 economists expected and more than double the revised… | Th...

US Consumer Confidence Plunges to Lowest Level Since 2014 U.S. consumer confidence fell sharply in September. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index dropped 6.7 points to 81.9, its lowest… | ...

Job Openings Fall to 7.1 Million as Workers Stay Put The number of U.S. job openings fell to 7.079 million in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, below the 7.230 million economists… ...

AI-Assisted Shopping to Rise 130% During the Holidays I feel slightly ridiculous writing about holiday shopping in September, but Adobe released its 2026 holiday forecast this morning and expects… | ...

Consumer Sentiment Falls Even as Americans Keep Spending Consumer sentiment fell to 48.1 in September from 51.7 in August, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, leaving the… |...

Businesses Are Still Betting on Growth Durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in August at $338.6 billion, better than the 0.3% decline economists expected. July was revised slightly lower… | ...

New Home Sales Surge as Lower Prices Help Unlock Demand New home sales jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000 in August, the fastest pace this year and well above the 616,000… | Thoma...

America’s Labor Market Still Isn’t Breaking Initial jobless claims came in at 197,000 last week, below the 201,000 economists expected. The previous week was revised slightly higher from 196,000 to… ...

U.S. Business Activity Is Surging. So Are Cost Pressures. U.S. business activity accelerated sharply in September, reaching its fastest pace in more than five years. The S&P Global U.S. Composite...

DoorDash to Pay $132 Million to NYC, Workers Over Missing Wages | Thomas J Thompson

AMC Is Overhauling Billions in Debt After Box Office Successes | Thomas J Thompson

Fed’s Goolsbee Warns Inflation Fight May Be Bigger Than Oil The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points last week, its first increase since 2023, and its latest projections suggest… ...

U.S. Manufacturing Output Falls for First Time in Eight Months U.S. manufacturing stumbled in August after seven straight months of growth. According to the Federal Reserve Board, factory output… | ...

Pending Home Sales Rose but Housing Is Still Stuck Pending home sales rose 0.3% in August according to the National Association of REALTORS®, beating expectations for a 0.2% decline. That's good...

Jobless Claims Fall Below 200,000 as Labor Market Shows Surprising Strength The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000 last week, while the number remaining on… | Th...

Fed Raises Rates for First Time Since 2023 The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point today, its first increase since July 2023. The unanimous 12–0 decision lifts the… |...

U.S. Consumers Just Blew Past Retail Sales Expectations U.S. consumers spent considerably more than expected in August. Retail and food services sales rose 1.2% from July according to the U.S… | Tho...

The Stagnant Housing Market Is About to Face a 7% Mortgage | Thomas J Thompson

The price of almost everything on your dinner table is climbing at once — and Wall Street is taking notice | Thomas J Thompson

Consumer Sentiment Is Back Near Its Lowest Level Ever U.S. consumer sentiment fell to 47.8 in the University of Michigan’s preliminary September survey, down from 51.7 in August and 13.2% from a… | T...

Inflation Matched Forecasts but Core CPI Came In Hotter Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, matching expectations and accelerating from 0.1% in July. Annual inflation held at 3.4%. Core CPI was… | ...

US Diesel Prices Rise Past $6 a Gallon for First Time Ever | Thomas J Thompson

Existing Home Sales Fell Below 4 Million for the First Time Since June 2025 Existing-home sales fell 2.0% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million, according to the National… | ...

Jobless Claims Still Point to Low Layoffs Initial jobless claims came in at 206,000 last week, essentially matching expectations for 205,000 and down 1,000 from the prior week's revised 207,000…...

Producer Inflation Hit 5.4% but the Headline Looks Worse Than the Details Producer prices rose 0.4% in August, matching expectations, while the annual rate climbed to 5.4%, slightly above the 5.3%… ...

US Mortgage Rates Climb to 6.85% Highest Since June 2025 The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.85% last week from 6.79%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, its highest level… |...

Consumer Borrowing Jumped in July but Credit Cards Weren’t the Story U.S. consumer credit increased by $18.1 billion in July, well above expectations for an $11.9 billion increase and up from a… | Th...

Small Business Optimism Cools as Sales Weaken Small business owners became somewhat less optimistic in August as the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index…...

Trump Officials Draft Plan to Pay At-Home Parents, Using Funds for Working Ones | Thomas J Thompson

U.S. Jobs Blew Past Expectations in August and July’s Loss Disappeared The U.S. added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly triple the 55,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, even… |...

Jobless Claims Remain Low Even as Hiring Weakens Initial jobless claims barely moved last week. The U.S. Department of Labor reported 206,000 new claims, up 2,000 from the prior week's revised… |...

Planned Layoffs Jumped 58%, but the Increase Wasn't Widespread U.S. employers announced 52,881 planned job cuts in August, up 58% from July, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. b...

Private Hiring Just Hit Its Slowest Pace Since January Private employers added just 38,000 jobs in August, according to ADP, below the 47,000 economists expected and the slowest pace of… | Thomas J T...

Uber to Cut 3,300 Jobs in Company Overhaul to Reduce Management Layers | Thomas J Thompson

The Labor Market Isn’t Firing. It Isn’t Hiring Much Either. Job openings came in weaker than expected in July, but the more interesting story may be what employers actually did. The Bureau of Labor…...

Chicago Business Activity Drops 10 Points But Employers Aren’t Cutting Yet The Chicago Business Barometer took a sharp turn in August, falling 10.5 points from 57.6 to 47.1. That's below the 50… ...

Warsh Says the Economy Is Holding Up While Inflation Isn’t I just watched Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech, and while much of the attention will understandably be on his… | ...

Consumer Sentiment Falls Even as Inflation Expectations Ease The University of Michigan's final August consumer sentiment reading finished at 51.7, down from 55.2 in July and 11.2% below a year a...