By Robert Romano Both annualized consumer and producer inflation decreased in October from 3.7 percent to 3.2 percent and from 2.2 percent to 1.3 percent , respectively, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid a drops in oil prices. On the consumer side, gasoline prices dropped 5 percent in October […]

By Robert Romano The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in October, reflecting 348,000 fewer people reporting they had jobs in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey and an additional 146,000 saying they couldn’t find work to 6.5 million. 416,000 left the labor force altogether as the labor participation rate dipped to 62.7 percent […]

By Robert Romano Provisions in two upcoming appropriations bills would defund Labor Department regulations allowing employer-based retirement investments into Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds, prohibit federal employee retirement investments by the $800 billion Thrift Savings Plan into ESG funds and would defund implementation of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Climate Disclosure Rule . With a little more than two weeks left to go until a Nov. 17 funding deadline, the U.S. House is continuing to consider a flood of appropriations […]

By Robert Romano Drops in inflation-adjusted compensation and wages preceded the losses of Harry Truman in 1952, who opted not to run, Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, George H.W. Bush in 1992 and Donald Trump in 2020, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis […]

By Robert Romano When it comes to restoring fiscal balance, the next Speaker of the House will have his or her work cut out for them, as the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projects the national debt will balloon to $50 trillion from its current $33.5 trillion by 2033 amid the current retirement wave, as Social Security goes from $1.3 trillion to $2.4 trillion and Medicare spirals from $821 billion to $1.8 trillion annually — and beyond. […]

By Robert Romano Consumer and Republican backlash against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments has increased dramatically in the past year as states, Congress and presidential candidates have taken on the issue, promising to rein in the largely green-conscious movement of capital amid spiraling energy and food costs since […]

By Robert Romano Labor markets appeared buoyed by still-working Baby Boomers in September as the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.8 percent , with 296,000 seniors finding jobs in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey. With more than 11.1 million seniors still working — a national record — peak employment still abounds, even as a massive 47.21 million seniors are no longer in the labor force — also a record — amid the […]

By Robert Romano Sept. 30 has come and gone as fiscal year 2023 has ended, but without an agreement from Congress on appropriations for the $1.7 trillion so-called “discretionary” budget, resulting in a 45-day continuing resolution that will continue to fund the government at 2023 levels, give or take, until Congress […]

  By Rick Manning The professional point-missers in official Washington, D.C. are focused this week upon the supposed “looming government shutdown” declaring apocalyptic doom to anyone who will listen.  Fortunately, those who take these prognosticators of the status quo seriously are becoming few and far between. A […]

By Robert Romano The Federal Reserve on Sept. 20 held the federal funds rate steady at 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent amid inflation jumping in August to 3.7 percent annualized from 3.2 percent in July, stating that “[i]n determining the extent of additional policy firming that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2 percent over time, the Committee will take into […]