Cautious optimism should be your takeaway from the surge of job growth in October. It’s a good sign, for sure. It means that the job outlook likely will be better in the months ahead. But it likely won’t stay as strong…
If you’re looking for a job or stronger sales, the best prospects among the largest U.S. metro markets include Dallas, based on job trends. Chicago rates among the weakest prospects. That’s the big-picture takeaway from the latest jobs data through September…
The two main measures of household confidence remain on a flat trend since the start of the year, suggesting that household spending will remain near its recent modest pace. That’s the big-picture takeaway from the latest data through October for consumer…
The headlines say price inflation is tame, but how are prices really affecting you? Differences by category—think health care, rent, clothing, and eggs—are contributing to workplace winners and losers and creating opportunities and threats to household spending. That’s the big-picture takeaway…
Households are sustaining a modest-to-weak pace overall in retail sales, but there are pockets of stronger spending at home-related and online retailers. The weak spending remains focused at electronics stores and big-box mass retailers. New weakness is emerging at grocery stores, as…
The holiday will be “deceptively” weak because households continue to spend at a healthy place in many non-retail categories and online. The spending weakness, however, will remain focused in the traditional retail measures that get inordinate attention during the holidays. See…