Robert Hughes

Existing-Home Sales Are Plateauing, Restrained by Low Inventory

Existing-home sales rose 3.0 percent in February following a 3.2 percent drop in January. Sales have bounced around in a tight range for most of the past two years. One of the key reasons for the range-bound selling pace is the tight supply of existing homes for sale.

Blog_2018_03_21

March Starts Off With Strong Economic Data

The latest economic data show initial claims for unemployment insurance fell again while personal income posted a solid gain and manufacturing-sector activity remained strong. The overall message is that the U.S. economy appears to be growing at a very solid pace in the first quarter.

Blog_2018_03_01

Payroll Gains Are Slowly Boosting Wage Increases

U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 200,000 jobs in January, the third monthly gain at or above 200,000 in the last four months, helping boost wage growth to 2.9 percent, the highest rate since 2009.

Blog_2018_02_02

Modest Headline Masks a Strong Quarter for U.S. Economy

The initial estimate for fourth-quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) growth came in at 2.6 percent. However,
Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, a measure of private domestic demand, rose a robust 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter, well above the 2.6 percent real-GDP headline.

blog_2018_01_26

New- and Existing-Home Sales Are Showing Divergent Paths

Sales of new and existing single-family homes fell in December. However, a stronger postrecession recovery in existing-home sales has pushed the current months supply to an all-time low while the months supply for single-family homes has held relatively steady in recent months.

Blog_2018_01_25

Small-Business Optimism Index Posts Best Year on Record

The small-business optimism index from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) fell slightly in December but still had a record-breaking year. However, there are significant concerns regarding the tight labor market and lack of qualified applicants to fill current openings.

Blog_2018_01_10