HUFFPOST - Brent Oil's Price Briefly Tops $100 Per Barrel, As Stocks Are Set To Drop On Wall Street
The jumps in oil prices will worsen inflation, just when it had begun to decelerate by more than economists expected.
AXIOS (Courtenay Brown) - Low layoff rates defy AI jobs domination fears
Data: Department of Labor; Chart: Neil Irwin/Axios The last time this few Americans were filing for unemployment benefits, Creedence Clearwater Revival topped the music charts , while "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was the star of the box office. Driving the news: Only 187,000 people filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week, pointing to an astoundingly low level of firings across the economy . It was the lowest since September 1969. - The labor force was much smaller then, too, so relative to the number of workers, this is easily the lowest number of jobless claims on record. Why it matters: There are plenty of gloomy warnings about the labor market, including that the proliferation of AI will lead to…
YOUTUBE (NewsNation) - A record 9 million Americans have defaulted on student loans
Federal student loan defaults have reached a record high. Nine million borrowers have defaulted, which is up from 5.3 million in June of last year. NewsNation's Nick Smith reports. Start your day with "Morning in America," NewsNation's live three-hour national morning newscast hosted by Markie Martin. Weekdays starting at 6a/5C. #MorningInAmerica NewsNation is your source for fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans.
AXIOS (Neil Irwin) - PPI data lowers market odds of interest rate increases this year
Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh is testifying on Capitol Hill for the second day Wednesday, this time before the Senate Banking Committee. - The combination of a few comments he made in Tuesday's hearing before the House and good June inflation data now in hand suggests a rate increase is unlikely at the Fed's meeting in two weeks, while its policy stance the remainder of the year is quite uncertain. Driving the news: The Labor Department on Wednesday morning released a favorable Producer Price Index reading, showing the overall index fell 0.3% in June, while a core index excluding food, energy and trade services was up a modest 0.1%. - It came on the heels of Tuesday's similarly disinflationary Consumer Price Index report . State…
AXIOS (Neil Irwin) - Outsiders with major chops lead Fed task forces
Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh has created five task forces to rethink the central bank's policymaking process. They are likely to bring outside-the-box ideas combined with intellectual chops to an often insular institution. The big picture: The task forces consist of economists and business leaders who bring serious credibility to the table but also are not part of the "Fed Borg " — that is, not among the usual lineup of people who have recently worked at the central bank. - It is particularly telling that the task forces are lean, with three members assigned to each (with support from Fed staff). - As anyone familiar with organizational dynamics knows, a three-person committee is more likely to arrive at crisp, potentially…
NYTIMES (Ana Swanson) - U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in May on Record Goods Imports
Imports of foreign goods hit a record high in the month, pushing the trade deficit to its highest level in over a year.
NYTIMES (Ana Swanson) - U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in May
Imports rose and exports fell in the month, pushing the trade deficit to its highest level in over a year
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY (Andrei Illarionov) - The American economic miracle
The American economic miracle stands out as one of the most remarkable accomplishments in the...
The American economic miracle stands out as one of the most remarkable accomplishments in the United States’ 250-year history. The idea of an “Economic Miracle” and the standards used to define it. The term “economic miracle”—which entered global academic and public discourse after World War II—traditionally refers to a country’s economic success in achieving and sustaining high rates of economic growth over a significant period. The most well-known examples of economic miracles are the cases demonstrated in the post-war decades by Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Ireland. The primary criteria for identifying an economic miracle are: - high rates of national economic growth…Open
AXIOS (Courtenay Brown) - The U.S. labor market's quiet upgrade
For the first time in years, data revisions could end up adding jobs to the official U.S. tally rather than erasing them. Why it matters: Early indicators point to a labor market that might be stronger than the monthly employment reports suggest . - Even a mild positive revision would reverse a stretch of after-the-fact updates that showed the labor market was notably weaker than it appeared in real time. - Last year's gloomy update showed that net job creation had all but come to a halt . The intrigue: Some Fed officials have been on the hunt for weak spots. But the labor market in recent months has defied the slowdown narrative. - Payroll growth has surpassed last year's pace. - Unemployment has held steady. - Now, the employment…
NYTIMES (Catie Edmondson) - What Plunging Pork Prices Say About China’s Economy
A key measure of inflation in China, they hit a 16-year low, driven by anemic consumer spending and an oversupply of hogs.