Author: Greg Heym
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The Line: Private Sector Employment Rose by Just 22,000 in January
It’s the first Friday of the month, which usually means a BLS jobs report. However, since the government shut down for a few days that report won’t come out until next week. Luckily for us ADP came to the rescue yet again, with their January Employment Report. Private Sector Employment Rose by Just 22,000 in…
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The Line: The Fed Leaves Rates Alone
This week, we have the latest from the Fed and tell you why Americans shouldn’t be so pessimistic about the economy. The Fed Leaves Rates Alone The Federal Reserve made no change to the federal funds rate at their meeting this week, a move that surprised nobody, even Gomer Pyle. The Fed summed up their thinking this way: “Available indicators suggest that…
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The Line: Mortgage Rates Remain New Three-Year Low
This week, we present the latest on mortgage rates, home sales, and the value of property in New York City Mortgage Rates Remain New Three-Year Low The average 30-year conforming mortgage rate ticked up to 6.09% this week, slightly higher than the previous week but still near a three-year low. Rates began to rise on Monday, due to tensions…
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The Line: Inflation Lower than Expected in December
There was a lot of economic data released this week, so welcome to another lightning-round edition of The Line. Inflation Lower than Expected in December The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% in December and was 2.6% higher than a year ago. Both figures were slightly below forecast, which was…
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The Line: Employment Rose by 64,000 in November
In this week’s Line— our last post of 2025— we celebrate the return of timely government data, with the latest on jobs and inflation. Employment Rose by 64,000 in November Here’s the breakdown on the BLS report: While the higher-than-expected gain in jobs last month sounds great, when you add in the big decline in…
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The Line: The Fed Cut Rates Another 0.25%
Today, The Line tries to fight through a nasty stomach virus to bring you the latest from the Fed. The Fed Cut Rates Another 0.25% By a 9-3 vote, the Federal Reserve approved a 25-basis point reduction in the federal funds rate. It’s worth noting that the last time 3 committee members dissented was September 2019. In case you’re curious, two of the dissenters were against…
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The Line: Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November
Today, we try to explain the current state of the labor market without any help from the BLS. Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November That’s the headline of ADP’s latest employment report. Sounds scary, but at least October’s job growth was revised up to 47,000. ADP also said that job growth in the second half of the year has been flat while…
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The Line: September Job Growth Much Higher than Expected
This week, we finally have a BLS Employment report, but unfortunately it’s for September. Welcome to the “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset” edition of The Line. September Job Growth Much Higher than Expected Payrolls rose by 119,000 in September, which easily crushed the50,000 Dow Jones estimate. Here are the other highlights of the report:…
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The Line: Finally, The U.S. is Open for Business
Today we celebrate the reopening of our government and hope they never shut down again. Finally, The U.S. is Open for Business After the longest shutdown in history, the federal government reopened on Thursday. For many, this has been the longest 43 days of their lives. There were roughly 600,000 federal employees furloughed, and approximately 700,000 workers who were deemed to be essential and…
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The Line: How Good/Bad is Our Economy?
Today, we channel our inner Marvin Gaye to tell us “What’s Going On” with the U.S. Economy How Good/Bad is Our Economy? That’s a difficult question when the government is open and supplying us with lots of data, but in this shutdown environment it becomes herculean. We will try hard to answer that question using…