FEATURED POST
January 13, 2025
The skills opportunity
Job reports move markets because they’re the strongest signal economists have about the strength of the U.S. economy. But worker productivity is just as important to economic growth; it’s just harder to measure or capture.
Read more
Subscribe to Data Lab
Stay up-to-date on the latest reports and trends.
Stay up to date with Data Lab
Please complete all fields.
Filter by:
February 5, 2024
Main Street Macro: What to do with good news?
Wall Street has a complicated relationship with good news, especially when interest rates are high, like they are now. Investors know that economic growth is good for their portfolios, but economic growth plus rock-bottom interests are even better.
Read more
January 29, 2024
Main Street Macro: What color is your collar?
This week brings the first jobs report of the new year, and already people are asking about the outlook for 2024. Worries about inflation and recession have been supplanted by labor-market anxiety. Layoffs in technology and finance have triggered unease that white-collar jobs might be vulnerable to a hiring slowdown this year.
Read more
January 22, 2024
Main Street Macro: The power of Davos: Networks
Davos, Switzerland, site of last week’s World Economic Forum gathering, is where movers and shakers meet. Leaders of companies, governments, and nonprofits around the world do here what they do best: Network.
Read more
January 15, 2024
Main Street Macro: Reality check
You’ve probably heard that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. In reality, when it comes to the future path of the economy, the line is rarely straight.
We saw this last week, when a key measure of consumer inflation rose after three months of decline. This kind of volatility isn’t unusual, especially during times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Read more
January 8, 2024
Main Street Macro: The trust factor
The annual World Economic Forum gathering in the mountainside retreat of Davos, Switzerland, is commonly described with a single word: Elite. But this year, Davos is attempting to draw attention to a new descriptor: Trust. The theme of this month’s Davos meeting, which begins Jan. 15, is rebuilding trust. The gathering will take place as the world confronts new and significant challenges and opportunities.
Read more
December 18, 2023
Main Street Macro: North pole wage report
Did you ever wonder how much Santa Claus makes? Turns out it’s a little more than $35 an hour.
And how do I know this?
Read more
December 11, 2023
Main Street Macro: A soft landing for payrolls
Last week delivered the final job reports of the year from ADP and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today, we’ll dive into that data and discuss what it means for next year.
Read more
December 4, 2023
Main Street Macro: Bumpy rides and soft landings
I spent last week at a lovely hotel in France with a beautiful view of the ocean. Naturally, because I’m an economist through and through, the ocean view had me thinking of inflation news on both sides of the Atlantic. Two of the world’s largest economies – the United States and the European Union – have suffered with big bouts of high inflation since the pandemic. Now, they’re adjusting to higher, for possibly longer, interest rates in three important ways.
Read more
