Lara Rhame
Lara Rhame
becomes deficit dependent dollar expensive foreign imports reliance shows trade vicious
This shows our big reliance on imports and foreign capital. As the dollar weakens, that becomes a more and more expensive habit. It makes our imports more expensive, makes the trade deficit wider, makes us even more dependent on foreign capital, weakening the dollar, on and on -- it's a vicious cycle.
add bottom closely companies line means number prices shows slow sluggish time
Every time you see a number that shows prices decelerating, immediately you have to think of sluggish re-hiring, ... It means companies will still be closely guarding the bottom line and will be slow to add to labor.
consumer factors fatigue goodness report severe special
This was an honest-to-goodness better-than-expected report. There were no special factors in it that made it look artificially strong. The report also indicates that consumer fatigue may not be as severe as we had previously thought.
bounce chance cyclical expect
This really reduces the chance of a cyclical bounce in spending, which is what we typically expect to see in a recovery.
fed minutes puts spotlight
This really puts the spotlight very acutely on the Fed minutes this afternoon.
elsewhere fed impact interest issue people question rates smart
This whole question of the impact on interest rates is really complicated, but a lot of smart people at the Fed and elsewhere have said it's not really a big issue -- it's only suppressing long-term interest rates at the margin.
businesses circular confidence consumers effect hiring lay lose nervous people production stop
There can be a circular effect -- if consumers lose confidence and businesses are nervous that the consumer will stop spending, and they downgrade production expectations or lay people off or stop hiring people because they don't think they'll get revenue, that makes consumers more nervous.
change data hikes inflation policy pricing radar rate screen time
We're not pricing in rate hikes any time soon, and today's data won't change that. Inflation is off the radar screen for policy makers.
forward global momentum
Without the U.S., there's not much forward momentum in the global economy.
coming consumer employment numbers phenomenal resilience swayed
Yet again, the U.S. consumer has phenomenal resilience and is not being swayed by the employment numbers coming out.
business consumer equipment increases output positive solid
This was a pretty positive number, with solid increases in output of business equipment and consumer goods.
building components furniture given housing robust stronger
You had big components down that should not be down, such as appliances, furniture and building materials. These should be stronger given the robust housing market.
average catching four holding job months percent rate recession saw sees throughout
We saw the unemployment rate actually holding throughout most of this slowdown, and only about four months ago we were at a 4.5 percent unemployment rate, ... The average recession sees a lot of job losses, so we've got a lot of catching up to do.
becomes dependent driver economy gets housing key sector slowing vulnerable
As the economy gets more and more dependent on housing being the key driver of growth, the economy becomes more and more vulnerable to that sector slowing down.