January may have been harsh on the labor market and other sectors of the economy, but there’s no sign of a winter chill in today’s durable goods report for last month. New orders for manufactured durable goods surged 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis in January, the highest monthly gain since last September. But the robust advance in the top-line number for new orders comes with some messy details.
Daily Archives: February 24, 2011
Jobless Claims Fall As Oil Prices Rise
Today’s weekly update on new jobless claims offers a fresh reason for hope, but the crowd isn’t likely to take the bait. The back and forth in this series in recent months has given rise to false hopes several times in the last few months that job growth is poised for better days. Is it different this time? Last week’s tally of new filings for unemployment benefits dipped to 391,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reports. That’s the lowest since the summer of 2008. But just when things are starting to perk up (maybe) for the labor market, it’s all a moot point suddenly, thanks to the upheaval in Libya and the resulting spike in oil prices.
Rebalancing & Fundamental Indexing
The original “fundamental indexing” ETF—RAFI US 1000 ETF (PRF)—recently celebrated its fifth birthday, and there was reason to celebrate. The fund, which was launched in December 2005, posted a tidy premium in its first five years vs. its competitors: the likes of the S&P 500 and Russell 1000. Fundamental indexing, as practiced by Rob Arnott’s benchmarking designs at Research Affiliates, seems to be working.