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Shoppers Celebrate Spring, Boosting April Sales .1%

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:29:39 +0000

Retail sales rose .1% in April, to $419 billion, after a .4% decline in March. Increases in spring-inspired categories, such as clothing (up 1.2%), gardening (up 1.5%) and sporting goods (up .5%) offset a 4.7% decline in gas station sales (a result of a seasonal drop in gas prices).

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Economic Shocks Are Inevitable, Says Bernanke

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:49:33 +0000

In a speech to the banking community this morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that economic shocks are an inevitable consequence of a free-market economy. That's because investors will always search to increase return in areas of the financial system that are less regulated. The government's role is to help banks to put enough cushions in place to absorb these shocks. This is all part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

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Is the Yuan Replacing the Dollar as the World's Reserve Currency?

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:17:25 +0000

A reader asks:

Hi Kimberly, I came across this article today and wanted to run it by you. This makes it sound like China really has a large stronghold in world reserves and has stopped buying the dollar on top of their stockpiling gold. Couldn't this lead to a collapse of the dollar soon if true?

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Consumer Credit Up 3.4% in March

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:37:37 +0000

As of the end of March, consumers owed $2.807 trillion in credit card and personal debt, a 3.4% increase over April. It was driven by a 5.9% increase in personal debt, which is mainly school and auto loans. This set an new record of $1.96 trillion. It also offset a 2.4% decrease in credit card debt, which is now only $846 billion.

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U.S. Added 165,000 New Jobs in April

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:24:11 +0000

In April, 165,000 jobs were added, more than the 150,000 minimum required for healthy economic growth. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%. Both the February and March jobs estimates were revised upwards, to 332,000 and 138,000 respectively. This was especially reassuring news after both the disappointing March jobs and retail reports. Wall Street signaled its enthusiasm by sending the Dow above 15,000 -- a new record!

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U.S. Reducing Debt for 1st Time in 6 Years

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:35:49 +0000

The U.S. Treasury Department said it will be able to pay down $35 billion of the nation's debt this quarter (April - June). That's the first time it's been able to reduce the debt in six years. That's good news for three reasons. First, it's a step in the right direction toward reducing the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio, now more than 100%. It might relieve the calls for more of the austerity measures that have been slowing economic growth.

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First Quarter GDP Growth Higher at 2.5%

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:56:02 +0000

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy grew 2.5% during the first quarter 2013 (January-March). As predicted last month, the advance estimate of GDP growth was much better than the .4% growth rate last quarter. Although it's smack-dab in the middle of the ideal growth rate of 2-3%, it's not enough to add a lot of new jobs. That's why you won't see people jumping up and down over what would normally be a solid GDP report.

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Durable Goods Down 5.7% in March

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:16:52 +0000

Manufacturers' orders for durable goods fell a disappointing 5.7% in March, thanks mainly to fewer orders for Boeing aircraft. This makes sense, since a 20% increase in aircraft orders occurred in February. However, even without the volatile transportation orders, durable goods order fell 1.4%. This means that businesses are less confident about the economy, and are ordering fewer computers, electronics and machinery.

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March Inflation Down Thanks to Lower Gas Prices

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:35:09 +0000

The threat of inflation receded in March, as the Consumer Price Index actually dropped .2%, driven mainly by a 4.4% drop in gas prices. When volatile gas and food prices are eliminated, even the so-called core inflation rate just .1%. Year-over-year, inflation was a moderate 1.5%, while the core inflation rate compared to last year was 1.9%. This means the Federal Reserve will maintain its expansive monetary policy, known as Quantitative Easing.

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Drop in March Retail Sales Blamed on Cold Weather

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:30:49 +0000

March retail sales was $418.3 billion, a .4% decline from February. The weakness was led by an expected 2.2% drop in gasoline station store sales. However, many other categories also declined, including electronic and appliance stores (-1.6%), department stores (-1.1%) and auto dealers (-.5%). No retail category gained 1% or more. The strongest was furniture (+.9%), miscellaneous retailers (+.8%) and restaurants (+.7%).

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