Oil Analysis: Low Expectations For Agreement At OPEC-Plus Virtual Gathering
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Members of the Organization for Oil Exporting Countries, along with Russia, Mexico and possibly Canada as well as Norway, are set to meet virtually Thursday to hash out an agreement to halt the months-long plunge in oil prices. However, expectations are low that a deal will be reached to ease a situation […]
DATA FLASH: US FEBRUARY JOLTS DATA POINT TO SLOWDOWN BEFORE MARCH DROP
-Openings, Hiring Slow Even Before COVID; Layoffs to Surge in March By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly JOLTS report, released Tuesday morning, showed that job openings and hiring conditions slowed in February and layoffs rose, even before the full COVID impact. Job openings fell to 6.882 million in […]
WHITE HOUSE WATCH COMMENTARY: BRACING FOR THE WORST YET
–‘There’ll Be A Lot of Death’ By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The president and his experts Saturday warned the nation that next week and the week after are going to see virus death tolls that will far eclipse anything seen so far, as the increasing number of hotspots climb the steepening curve toward their […]
DATA FLASH: US MARCH PAYROLLS DROP 701,000, BUT IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING
–Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.4% from 3.5%, Some See It Rising to 30% By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The March employment report was much weaker than expected, but only reflected the very start of the economic shutdowns. The March 14 survey week fell before the bulk of the government-mandated business shutdowns. As a result, […]
Updating CBO’s Economic Forecast to Account for the Pandemic
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office update text of pandemic-related economic assumptions posted Friday morning by CBO Director Philip Swagel: CBO expects that the economy will contract sharply during the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the continued disruption of commerce stemming from the spread of the novel […]
NEW PHILADELPHIA FED SURVEY: ALMOST 25% OF DISTRICT COMPANIES SHUT DUE TO PANDEMIC
By Jon Hurdle PHILADELPHIA (MaceNews) – Almost a quarter of companies surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia temporarily shut down because of the coronavirus in the week ending March 29, the Philly Fed said Thursday in its first weekly survey https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/research-and-data/regional-economy/covid-19-survey/2020/20200402-covid-19-bos-survey.pdf?la=en of how businesses in the Third District are responding to the pandemic. […]
DATA FLASH: US INITIAL CLAIMS SPIKE, BACKLOGS TO MAINTAIN FLOW FOR SEVERAL WEEKS
–Initial Claims Double from Previous Week to Record 6.648 Mln By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Continuing layoffs and administrative backlogs will lift initial claims to new record highs for the next several weeks before the flow of new filings finally slow. This week, the level of new claims was double last week’s, adding to […]
BOSTON FED’S ROSENGREN Q&A: DISTRESS AHEAD FOR HEAVILY LEVERAGED
–Pandemic Likely To Be A Bigger Financial Distress Problem NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren opposed the pre-crisis rate cuts and now he is being proven right, the pandemic’s effects will be worse than otherwise because the Fed had less ammunition while some individuals and firms accumulated too much low-interest […]
DATA FLASH: US MARCH MANUFACTURING ISM TICKS DOWN ON UNCERTAINTY
-Decline Follows Disappointing Regional Data, Markit Revised Lower By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Manufacturing sector activity contracted modestly in March according to the Institute of Supply Management, slightly better than the regional data leading up to it, but likely the first in a string of monthly declines. The headline PMI index fell to 49.1 […]
Data Flash: US March Confidence Falls; Social Distance Rules, Coverage Rage On
-Conference Board’s Measure Echoes Michigan Sentiment By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Conference Board’s U.S. consumer confidence index fell in March to a reading of 120.0 from 132.6 in February, another indication that COVID-19 had severely impacted the psyche of consumers in just a few weeks, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The report, based […]