Look West and South for the fastest-growing local markets led by San Jose and San Antonio, according to the latest data on job growth by U.S. cities and metro markets. The slower-growing markets led by New Orleans, LA, and Houston, TX,…
In an encouraging sign for 2016 prospects, household confidence held up in January from the prior month despite the big stock market declines—according to a first look at the latest U.S. confidence measures. The stability in confidence was evident in both…
Price trends in December continued to push households toward using lower prices for food at home and energy to offset rising prices focused primarily in services, rent, and house payments—according to a first look at the latest U.S. consumer price numbers….
Household retail spending came in below expectations for the November-December holiday period, based on the latest U.S. retail numbers. Online and homegoods specialty stores were among the exceptions reporting healthy growth. Spending generally remained strongest outside of traditional retail stores—especially at…
The macro trend that matters most for household spending in 2016—beyond the impact of the shift online—is a sustained and deepening letup in price inflation in many goods categories. The biggest impact will come from food prices, which are forecast to…
A third straight month of strong jobs data suggest that U.S. households should be able to surmount the growing global challenges to the economic outlook, according to the latest topline U.S. jobs numbers. The job count increased by 292,000 in December…
Households bucked up their confidence in December, suggesting a steady outlook for household spending heading into 2016—according to the latest U.S. confidence measures. The December pickup in confidence (from a falloff in November) was evident in both the consumer confidence and…