By Robert Romano The number of Americans not in the labor force increased by 845,000 to 100.5 million Dec. 2023, according the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) household survey, including 436,000 who were over the age of 65 , as the Baby Boomer retirement wave continues en force. In the same month, 635,000 fewer Americans reported having jobs on a seasonal basis, 145,000 of whom were seniors (although seniors are measured by BLS on […]

By Robert Romano The Federal Reserve on Dec. 13 held the Federal Funds Rate—the rate at which banks lend to each other—steady at 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent, as the consumer inflation once again cooled to 12-month average level of 3.1 percent, according to the latest data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Leading the cooldown were […]

By Robert Romano “Anti-woke economic terrorists have now wiped out $5 trillion in stock value.” That was a headline from Afru.com bemoaning the sideways performance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds the past year or so, accusing anyone opposed to ESG with inflicting “economic terrorism” and “erod[ing] financial portfolios of […]

By Rick Manning Imagine a regulatory body of the United States government deciding that people who pay their bills should subsidize those who don’t. Well, imagine no more.  The constitutionally dubious Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) has a proposed rule (Regulation Z) that would lower the penalty […]

By Robert Romano As the Baby Boomer retirement wave continues apace, the percentage of the working age population over the age of 65 continues to rapidly increase—since 1960, it has gone from 16 percent of the population to 26 percent of the population—and with it the $33 […]

By Robert Romano The U.S. economy has been on a rollercoaster ever since the Covid pandemic of 2020, first with high unemployment and near deflationary levels as the global economy was locked down, followed by a deluge of government spending, borrowing and printing almost $7 trillion, followed […]

  By Robert Romano As 2023 is winding down to a close, the U.S. trade in goods deficit with the world is down $101 billion for the first nine months of the year to $802 billion, an 11.2 percent decrease so far, with still three months of […]

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 […]