Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of March 28, 2014

Doug Short had a blog post of March 28, 2014 (“Michigan Consumer Sentiment…“) in which he presents the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence and Thomson/Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index charts.  They are presented below: (click on charts to enlarge images) – – There are a few aspects of the above charts that I find highly …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through February 2014

Many people place emphasis on Durable Goods New Orders as a prominent economic indicator and/or leading economic indicator. For reference, below are charts depicting this measure. First, from the St. Louis Fed site (FRED), a chart through February, last updated on March 26, 2014.  This value is 229,379 ($ Millions) : (click on charts to …

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Current Economic Situation

With regard to our current economic situation, my thoughts can best be described/summarized by the posts found under the 34 “Building Financial Danger” posts. My thoughts concerning our ongoing economic situation – with future implications – can be seen on the page titled “A Special Note On Our Economic Situation,” which has been found near …

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Median Household Income Chart

I have written many blog posts concerning the worrisome trends in income and earnings. Doug Short, in his March 20, 2014 post titled “Real Median Household Income Is About $4500 Off Its 2008 High” produced the chart below.  It is based upon data from Sentier Research, and it shows both nominal and real median household incomes since …

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Average Hourly Earnings Trends

I have written many blog posts concerning the worrisome trends in income and earnings. Along these lines, one of the measures showing disconcerting trends is that of hourly earnings. While the concept of hourly earnings can be defined and measured in a variety of ways, below are a few charts that I believe broadly illustrate problematic …

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Total Household Net Worth As A Percent Of GDP 4Q 2013

The following chart is from the CalculatedRisk blog post of March 6, 2014 titled “Fed’s Q4 Flow of Funds:  Household Net Worth at Record High.” It depicts Total Household Net Worth as a Percent of GDP.  The underlying data is from the Federal Reserve’s Z.1 report, “Financial Accounts of the United States“ : (click on chart to enlarge image)   …

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March 4 Gallup Poll Results On Economic Confidence – Notable Excerpts

On March 4, 2014 Gallup released the poll results titled “Economic Confidence Unchanged in February.”  The subtitle is “Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index remains at -16.” Notable excerpts include: Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index was -16 for the month of February, the same as in January. February marked the end of consecutive monthly increases in economic confidence after …

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Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of February 28, 2014

Doug Short had a blog post of February 28, 2014 (“Michigan Consumer Sentiment:  A Modest Increase Despite Bad Weather“) in which he presents the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence and Thomson/Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index charts.  They are presented below: (click on charts to enlarge images) – – There are a few aspects of the …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through January 2014

Many people place emphasis on Durable Goods New Orders as a prominent economic indicator and/or leading economic indicator. For reference, below are charts depicting this measure. First, from the St. Louis Fed site (FRED), a chart through January, last updated on February 27, 2014.  This value is 224,975 ($ Millions) : (click on charts to …

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