New orders for durable goods dropped by 2.5% last month, the third monthly decline in a row. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, however, new orders rose slightly in December.
Daily Archives: January 27, 2011
JOBLESS CLAIMS SURGE… DUE TO SNOW?
New jobless claims rose sharply last week, surging 51,000 to 454,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reports. New filings for unemployment benefits are now at the highest since last October. Is it time to rethink the economic revival that appeared to be chugging along anew in recent months?
INFLATION: CAN IT HAPPEN HERE?
The Fed announced that it would continue purchasing Treasuries for its second round of quantitative easing (QE2). The news wasn’t a surprise, but yesterday’s FOMC statement triggered fresh talk about inflation. But if there’s a higher risk, it’s not showing up in the implied forecast via the yield spread on nominal less inflation-indexed 10-year Treasuries.