MixedTimes - John Carney
Macron Locks Down France
By John Carney |
The French people have been told not to leave home except for essential purchases, medical needs, and one hour a day of exercise.
Dow Falls Over 900 Points as Coronavirus Cases Surge and Lockdowns Loom
By John Carney |
Investor confidence in the global recovery has been shaken by rising infections.
U.S. Auto Sales Jump 3% Higher as Demand Soars
By John Carney |
Americans cannot wait to get on the road again.
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey Jumps to Highest Level Ever
By John Carney |
Manufacturing activity in the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland strengthened in October, according to a survey from the Richmond Fed released Tuesday. The composite index, compiled from surveys taken from manufacturing businesses in the Fed’s Fifth District, rose from
Carney: 6 Ways a Biden Democrat Run Economy Would Hurt Suburban America
By John Carney |
Here are six major problems Americans should brace themselves for if Joe Biden is elected.
Durable Goods Orders Rise 1.9%, Much Higher Than Expected
By John Carney |
A powerful resurgence for durable goods orders in September.
New Home Sales Slip Slightly Lower But Remain 32% Above 2019's Level
By John Carney |
An unexpectedly month-over-month decline for new home sales.
Carney: Joe Biden's Energy Plan Would Eviscerate Wisconsin Sand Miners
By John Carney |
Wisconsin does not produce a drop of oil or a puff of natural gas, but Joe Biden's plan to move the U.S. off of fossil fuels would hit the state hard.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Misleadingly Claims He Would Not Ban Fracking
By John Carney |
Biden's program of subsidies for renewable energy and penalties for fossil fuels would effectively eliminate fracking in the United States by eliminating its economic viability.
Fact Check: Donald Trump Says Nancy Pelosi Is Blocking a Stimulus Bill
By John Carney |
Claim: "Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to approve anything because she'd love to have some victory after November 3rd," President Donald Trump said on Thursday when asked why a stimulus bill has not been passed.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Said Donald Trump Gave No Money to Small Businesses to Help with Pandemic
By John Carney |
CLAIM: Democrat presidential candidate Joe Bidensaidduring the last debate Thursday night that President Donald Trump has done nothing to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
Carney: Lesley Stahl Falsely Told the President Unemployment Claims Were Rising
By John Carney |
Unemployment claims were falling even while th "60 Minutes" star insisted otherwise.
Flight from the Cities: Existing Home Sales Jump 9.4%, Clobbering Expectations
By John Carney |
Sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent in September to an annualized rate of 6.54 million, the fourth consecutive monthly gain.
Jobless Claims Drop to 787,000, Much Better Than Expected
By John Carney |
New claims for unemployment benefits tumbled by much more than expected to 787,000 in the week ended October 17.
Carney: Philly Fed Beige Book Shows Strength of Trump Economics for Pennsylvania
By John Carney |
Without policies to protect manufacturing from China's predatory policies, Pennsylvania would have been much worse off during the pandemic
Carney: Joe Biden's Green Energy Plan Would Effectively Wipe Out Pennsylvania Fracking
By John Carney |
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has repeatedly promised that he would not ban fracking—a vital economic bulwark in the battleground state of Pennsylvania—if elected.
Flight from the Cities: Single Family Housing Starts Jump 8.5%
By John Carney |
American homebuilders are scrambling to build suburban homes to keep up with a rush out of big cities.
Survey: Donald Trump Has Narrow Lead with Independents
By John Carney |
President Donald Trump is behind in every national poll, but he enjoys a small lead among voters not aligned with either party, data from the University of Michigan's survey of American consumers show.
Flight from the Cities: Home Builder Sentiment Jumps to All-Time Record High
By John Carney |
Homebuilder confidence set a record high for the third consecutive month.
U.S. Budget Deficit Tripled to $3.1 Trillion as Pandemic Hit Economy
By John Carney |
Total federal debt held by the public rose 25 percent while Treasury yields fell 57 percent.
U.S. Consumer Sentiment Rose by More Than Expected in Early October, Trump Enjoys Slight Advantage with Independents
By John Carney |
Trump and Biden are nearly tied among independents in the University of Michigan's survey of consumers.
Retail Sales Surge in September in Show of Economic Strength
By John Carney |
Sales rose 1.9 percent, more than double the expected gain.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Claims Donald Trump Did Nothing When Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Expired
By John Carney |
Claim: Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden said at the Town Hall on ABC Thursday that President Donald Trump took no action when the Congressional authorization for enhanced unemployment benefits expired this summer.
Philly's Back: Fed Manufacturing Index Unexpectedly Surges to Prepandemic Heights
By John Carney |
The Philly Fed said the results indicate "widespread optimism" about the next six months.
Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise to 898,000
By John Carney |
With no hope of aid from Capitol Hill, employers accelerated layoffs in early October.
Mnuchin Says Nancy Pelosi Is Blocking Stimulus to Avoid Giving Trump a Win
By John Carney |
Pelosi's letters to the Democratic caucus make clear that she does not want any deal with Trump before the election.
Retail's 2020 'Back to School' Disaster
By John Carney |
Remote learning appears to have choked off some back-to-school spending—although the effects have been uneven. Data released from the Department of Labor on prices paid by consumers and received by businesses suggest that this years back-to-school spending was anemic in
Producer Prices Rise More Than Expected, Indicating Stronger Demand
By John Carney |
Businesses garnered higher prices for goods and services in September, an indication of rising demand and an easing of deflationary pressures from the pandemic and social distancing rules.
Small Business Optimism Soars to Prepandemic Levels
By John Carney |
Small business optimism hit its highest level since January.
Inflationary Pressure Weakened in September
By John Carney |
U.S. consumer goods prices moved up a bit in September but overall inflationary pressures weakened.
Carney: Amy Coney Barrett Is Not a Death Sentence for Obamacare
By John Carney |
ACB has criticized the now-impotent individual mandate but it is highly unlikely she would strike down the entire law.
Carney: Broadway's Blackout Looks Illegal
By John Carney |
A trade association of theater owners and producers announced there would be no ticket sales through May 2021. That may not be legal.
Larry Kudlow Says Trump Has Approved a New Stimulus Package
By John Carney |
Kudlow said President Trump "would like to do a deal."
Pelosi Takes Tens of Thousands of Airline Workers Hostage to Demand Blue State Bailout
By John Carney |
A week ago, House Democrats were pushing for a standalone bill. On Thursday, Pelosi reversed her position.
Jobless Claims Fall Inch Down to 840,000, Worse Than Expected
By John Carney |
Very little improvement in jobless claims.
Fact Check: Kamala Harris Claims Trump Economy Only Benefits the Rich
By John Carney |
"Joe Biden believes that you measure the health and strength of America's economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family.
Fact Check: Susan Page Falsely Claims Economic Recovery Is Not Rapid and Robust
By John Carney |
In reality, the economy is growing much faster than the top economists at the Fed thought was possible
Fact Check: Kamala Harris Claims 2017 Tax Cuts Only Benefited Top 1%
By John Carney |
At Wednesday night's vice presidential debate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) claimed that President Donald Trump "passed a tax bill benefitting the top one percent, leading to a two trillion dollar deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for.
Fed Found Economy Is Recovering Much Faster Than Officials Expected
By John Carney |
Fed officials decided at the last meeting that the economy was considerably healthier than they thought it would be.
Carney: Nancy Pelosi's 'No Deal' Strategy Killed the Stimulus Bill
By John Carney |
Pelosi pretended to negotiate all summer long but the end game was always going to be no deal till after the election.
Layoffs Fell and Hiring Rose in August as Economy Regained Its Footing
By John Carney |
Job openings dipped by less than expected after four months of strong growth.
Pelosi Blinks: House Speaker Says Airline Aid Legislation Imminent
By John Carney |
Pelosi calls on airlines to hold off on planned layoffs.
Consumer Sentiment Rises to Six-Month High, Beats Expectations
By John Carney |
Optimism soared higher in September.
U.S. Created 661,000 Jobs in September, Unemployment Falls to 7.9%
By John Carney |
Economists had forecast 894,000 jobs and a decline in the unemployment rate to 8.2 percent.
Carney: The New York Times Is Wrong — Trump Paid Millions in Taxes in 2017
By John Carney |
Trump used millions of dollars of a tax credit to pay most of his taxes in 2017, undercutting claims he paid just $750.
Flight from the Cities: Construction Spending Surges Higher, Led by Single Family Homes
By John Carney |
Spending on single family homes jumped 5.5 percent in August while spending on aparment buildings and office buildings fell.
Europe's Unemployment Rises for 5th Month, Narrows Gap with U.S.
By John Carney |
Unemployment rose for a fifth straight month in Europe in August, narrowing the gap with the U.S. The continued rise in unemployment across the continent is feeding concerns that extensive government support programs won’t be able keep many businesses hit
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 837,000, A Bit Below Expectations
By John Carney |
Unemployment claims are still very high and have not made much progress in several weeks.
American Airlines to Begin Furloughing 19,000 Workers After Pelosi Fails to Agree to Deal with Mnuchin
By John Carney |
American Airlines said it will begin furloughing 19,000 workers after lawmakers and the White House can’t agree on a coronavirus relief deal. The aid package that avoided layoffs since March expires on October 1.
Carney: Biden Spent the First Debate Flooding America with a Torrent of Lies
By John Carney |
Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden took the stage last night with a simple political task: prove to the American people that he is more than "Basement Joe" — He needed to show that he has the temperament, mental acuity, physical stamina, and strength of character to be president.
Flight from the Cities: Pending Home Sales Hit All-Time High
By John Carney |
Signings of contracts to purchase homes are up by more than 24% compared with a year ago.
U.S Companies Add Far More Jobs Than Expected as Manufacturing Hiring Booms, ADP Estimates
By John Carney |
Construction, manufacturing, transportation, and hospitality led the gains.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Says Obama-Biden Left Trump a Booming Economy and Trump Caused a Recession
By John Carney |
Did Trump cause a recession in Japan, Germany, and the U.K. also?
Fact Check: Biden Falsely Claims the Trade Deficit with China is Higher Now
By John Carney |
The China trade deficit has plunged this year and it was falling even before the pandemic struck.
Fact Check: Biden Falsely Claims the Pandemic Recovery Helps Only the Wealthy
By John Carney |
Wall Street has done well during the recovery but unemployment has fallen and poverty is down.
Fact Check: Trump Paid Tens of Millions of Dollars in Taxes
By John Carney |
The blockbuster expose by the New York Times revealed that Trump paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes during the years in question.
Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Explodes Higher in September
By John Carney |
A much better than expected improvement in both consumers' assessments of current conditions and expectations for the future.
Carney: The New York Times' Attack on Trump's 'Financial Acumen' Is Nonsense
By John Carney |
The Times swings and misses with a contradictory, odd-ball attack on the president based on decades of tax data. |
Durable Goods Order Rise for Fourth Straight Month
By John Carney |
Orders for longer-lasting goods are back above 95 percent of their pre-pandemic level.
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to 870,000
By John Carney |
Initial claims for unemployment benefits climbed last week.
Tesla Sues to Overturn Trump Tariffs on Imports From China
By John Carney |
Tesla says it has been harmed by a 25% tariff on screens it uses in its Model 3.
U.S. Economic Recovery Continues at Solid Pace While Japan and Europe Stumble
By John Carney |
The re-impositions of lockdowns and pandemic restrictions has slowed growth outside of the U.S.
Manufacturing Unexpectedly Surges in Richmond Fed District
By John Carney |
Economic conditions are improving at a fast clip in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Flight From the Cities: Existing Homes Sales Jump to 14-Year High
By John Carney |
Home prices are soaring as demand outpaces supply.
Stocks Slide As Investors Seek Shelter from Several Storms
By John Carney |
The September sell-off enters a fourth week.
U.S. Household Net Worth Hits Highest Level Ever
By John Carney |
The roller coaster of the pandemic economy saw the net worth of U.S. households soar to its highest level ever in the second quarter. That followed the largest-ever drop in the previous quarter due to the economic disruption of the
Park Ave Residents Gave Joe Biden 8 Times What They Gave to Donald Trump
By John Carney |
Joe Biden's attempt to convince voters that his blue-collar roots make him the populist candidate in the 2020 presidential race is hard to square with his campaign's finances.
Trump and Biden Virtually Tied in University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey
By John Carney |
Trump has the lead on the economy and household finances
De Blasio Delays NYC Schools Reopening at Last Minute
By John Carney |
Schools that were supposed to reopen on Monday will be closed for at least another week.
Flight from the Cities: Single Family Housing Starts Boom in August
By John Carney |
Homebuilders started construction on new homes at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.021 million, 12.1 percent higher than a year ago and up 4.1 percent from the prior month.
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 860,000
By John Carney |
A small improvement, slightly bettter than expeced, in new claims for unemployment benefits.
Fed Officials Significantly Upgrade Their 2020 Economic Outlook
By John Carney |
Back in June the Fed's median forecast was for the economy to shrink 6.5 percent. Now it sees only a 3.7 percent contraction.
Flight from the Cities: Home Builder Confidence Hits All-Time High
By John Carney |
The great rush for homes is making this the best market ever for builders.
Retail Spending Growth Slowed in August
By John Carney |
Sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in August, down from July's growth of 0.9 percent.
Empire State Factory Index Points to Rapidly Improving Economy
By John Carney |
Business conditions are improving faster than expected.
Summer Rise in Infections Did Not Reduce the Number of Americans Shopping or Dining Out
By John Carney |
Consumer habits proved more reslient than expected.
The U.S. Economy Is Recovering Much Faster Than Expected
By John Carney |
Economists have been furiously upgrading their forecasts as more and more evidence shows the rebound has more steam than they thought.
Flight from the Cities: Used Car Prices Soar Most Since 1969
By John Carney |
Broad gains in prices suggest the economy is still healing.
Carney: Biden's Offshoring Rule Aligns U.S. Tax Policy with China's Predatory Trade Policy
By John Carney |
Biden's new tax proposal will not create American jobs but it will help China pursue its predatory trade policies.
Services Sector Prices and Store Margins Indicate Economic Lift In August
By John Carney |
Profit margins for many merchants rose in August, indicating healthier demand than expected amid the pandemic.
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Stall at 884,000
By John Carney |
U.S. weekly jobless claims held steady at 884,000 last week, slightly above Wall Street expectations. Economists had forecast initial claims to drop to around 850,000 from 881,000 originally reported last week.
U.S. Job Openings Jump Much Higher Than Expected
By John Carney |
A much bigger boost in job openings than expected points to an economy recovery faster than previously thought.
Confidence Among Small Business Owners Unexpectedly Jumps to Better Than Usual
By John Carney |
The small business apocalypse has been called off. When the federal government’s pandemic economic support ran dry at the end of July, many predicted that small businesses would be hard hit.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Falsely Claims U.S. Economy Is Worse Off than Europe and Japan
By John Carney |
The U.S. economy outperformed most of Europe and Japan in the most recent quarter.
Black-White Jobless Gap Remains Near Historic Lows Despite Pandemic
By John Carney |
The racial gap in unemployment narrowed during Trump's presidency to its lowest level ever.
Hispanic Women and Black Men See Greatest Employment Gains in August
By John Carney |
So much for the idea that the reopening recovery is only benefiting a few Americans.
Chuck Schumer Does Not Welcome Huge Drop in Unemployment
By John Carney |
Back when Obama was running for president in 2012, Schumer was happy to celebrate smaller gains in employment.
Better Than Expected! U.S. Economy Added 1.37 Million Jobs in August, Unemployment Fell to 8.4%
By John Carney |
Economists had forecast an addition of around 1.32 million jobs and a decline in the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent.
U.S. Stocks Drop as Tech Titans Tank
By John Carney |
A big sell-off in the hotest stocks of the reopening highlights doubts about where the economy is heading going into the 2020 election.
U.S. Services Sector Growth Continued in August
By John Carney |
The U.S. services sector grew in August for the third month in a row, according to a survey of business executives. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of activity in the services sector dipped to 56.9, 1.2 percentage poitns lower
Productivity Soared 10.1% as Pandemic Stricken Businesses Slashed Workers and Hours
By John Carney |
Output fell less than employment in the second-quarter, pushing up productivity.
Jobless Claims Fall to 881,000, Lowest Since Pandemic Hit
By John Carney |
Jobless claims were expected to fall to 958,000.
U.S. Debt On Path To Exceed Size of Economy Next Year, CBO Estimates
By John Carney |
The U.S. government's debt owed to the public will exceed GDP for the first time since World War II.
Factory Orders Jump 6.4% in July, Durable Goods Soar 11.4%
By John Carney |
The manufacturing sector continues to recover from the depth of the pandemic shutdowns.
Flight from the Cities: Homebuyer Mortgages Up 28% From Last Year
By John Carney |
Demand for homes outside of major city centers has exploded higher this summer.
ADP Private Payroll Survey Shows Accelerating U.S. Employment Growth
By John Carney |
The ADP number has been wildly offbase in recent months but it tends to get the direction of employment growth right.
Fact Check: Bill Clinton Falsely Claims U.S. Economy Lags Behind Our Allies
By John Carney |
"Donald Trump says we're leading the world — well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate tripled," former President Bill Clinton said.
Ghost Town: Just 8% of Employees in NYC Are Back in Their Offices
By John Carney |
This is likely to make living in NYC much less attractive, putting pressure on home prices and rents.
S&P 500 Rises to Record High, Passes Prepandemic Top for First Time
By John Carney |
Investors think the U.S. economy will withstand the ongoing pressures of the pandemic.
Housing Starts Jump 22.6% Higher, Much Better Than Expected
By John Carney |
Home building activity rose at a much faster pace than expected in July.