BLS

Prices paid by producers and wholesalers rose in February according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index (PPI).  This cost proxy increased 0.2 percent, slowing from 0.4 percent in January.  Despite the monthly deceleration, the annual trend level increased marginally to 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent.  Excluding food and energy (since they are volatile) lea

Friday’s employment report covering February 2018 was strong.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, America’s economy added 313,000 net new jobs.   This gain followed an upwardly revised count of 239,000 (originally 200,000) to start this year and an increase of another 15,000 for the December 2017 tally.  The unemployment rate held steady at just 4.1 per

Prices paid by wholesalers and producers fell during December according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Their Producer Price Index (PPI) declined 0.1 percent in the period.  Versus a year earlier, this measure decelerated to 2.6 percent from 3.1 percent in November.  Core-PPI, which removes food and energy because of their volatility, fell 0.1 percent to end the year and slow

America’s economy continued adding jobs in December 2017 according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Employers hired a net 148,000 new workers as the year came to a close.  Despite the monthly increase in jobs, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent as the number of available workers also rose in the period.

Prices paid by producers and wholesalers rose in November according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Their Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 0.4 percent in the penultimate month alone.  This rapid monthly move pushed the year-over-year trend to 3.1 percent, up from 2.8 percent in October.

Prices Americans pay for goods and services increased in October 2017 according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  After jumping 0.5 percent in September, inflation decelerated to 0.1 percent.  Additionally, the year-over-year trend for this indicator eased to 2.0 percent from 2.2 percent.  Core-CPI, which excludes food and energy

Inflationary pressures continued their recent advance according to the October 2017 Producer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  For a second consecutive month, the headline figure increased 0.4 percent.  On a year-over-year basis, the trend accelerated to 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent in September.

America’s productivity jumped from July through September of 2017 according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Output-per-labor-hour increased 3.0 percent on an annualized basis, doubling the prior quarter’s pace.  This jump is the best quarterly improvement since the third quarter of 2014.  Additionally, unit labor costs rose as employee compensation

Headline figures were mixed on Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their employment report.  According to the establishment survey, our economy lost 33,000 jobs to end the third quarter of 2017.  However, the household survey estimates the unemployment rate declined to the lowest level since January 2001, 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent in August.   The BL