U-3 And U-6 Unemployment Rate Long-Term Reference Charts As Of December 8, 2017

Shortly after each monthly employment report I have been posting a continual series titled “3 Critical Unemployment Charts.” Of course, there are many other employment charts that can be displayed as well. For reference purposes, below are the U-3 and U-6 Unemployment Rate charts from a long-term historical perspective.  Both charts are from the St. …

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3 Critical Unemployment Charts – December 2017

As I have commented previously, as in the October 6, 2009 post (“A Note About Unemployment Statistics”), in my opinion the official methodologies used to measure the various job loss and unemployment statistics do not provide an accurate depiction; they serve to understate the severity of unemployment. However, even if one chooses to look at the …

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Building Financial Danger – December 8, 2017 Update

My overall analysis indicates a continuing elevated and growing level of financial danger which contains many worldwide and U.S.-specific “stresses” of a very complex nature. I have written numerous posts in this site concerning both ongoing and recent “negative developments.”  These developments, as well as other exceedingly problematic conditions, have presented a highly perilous economic environment …

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Total Household Net Worth As A Percent Of GDP 3Q 2017

The following chart is from the CalculatedRisk post of December 7, 2017 titled “Fed’s Flow of Funds:  Household Net Worth increased in Q3.” 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) As seen in …

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Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index (NFCI)

The St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) is one index that is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  Its reading as of the November 30, 2017 update (reflecting data through November 24, 2017) is -1.679. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other …

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Zillow Q4 2017 Home Price Expectations Survey – Summary & Comments

On December 5, 2017, the Zillow Q4 2017 Home Price Expectations Survey results were released.  This survey is done on a quarterly basis. An excerpt from the press release: Panelists views on the pace of home value growth have consistently grown over the past several quarters, likely because of low mortgage rates spurring demand and low inventory …

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Charts Of Equities’ Performance Since March 9, 2009 And January 1, 1980 – December 4, 2017 Update

In the March 9, 2012 post (“Charts of Equities’ Performance Since March 9, 2009 And January 1, 1980“) I highlighted two charts for reference purposes. Below are those two charts, updated through the latest daily closing price. The first is a daily chart of the S&P500 (shown in green), as well as five prominent (AAPL, IBM, …

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