Robert Brusca
Robert Brusca
claims improvement numbers quite strange turn
The claims numbers always do strange things at the end of the year. There was some improvement at the turn of the year, but the story is that claims are gravitating back to the 400,000, where they were for quite while.
decline demand economy economy-and-economics prices shows slack unless weak
These are big declines. It shows you how weak the economy is. Prices don't decline like this unless you've got slack demand conditions.
bit exactly huge open package prettier wrapping
This is a little bit like getting a bigger-than-expected package in a much prettier wrapping and huge bow, but you open it up and it's exactly what you thought you were going to get.
basic consumer level negative pop pressured savings spending
The consumer can pop for a spree now and then, but spending at its basic level is pressured by a negative savings rate.
across below count covers energy number overall pressure price products report shot warning
You count up the products (showing price increases) and you see there's a little more pressure just below the surface, ... The overall energy number showed a big decline. That covers up a lot of ills. But the PPI was the warning shot across the bow. With the CPI report we dodged the bullet.
cheap china compete labor laws repeal states united wages
You can't repeal the laws of economics. Wages in China are so cheap, that you'll never make labor cheap enough in the United States to compete with that.
energy inflation rising seems storm weathered
Inflation seems to have weathered the storm of rising energy prices.
fed inflation worried wrong
Inflation is very contained. It's not going anywhere. The Fed is little too worried about the wrong thing. I'm more worried about growth.
inflation
Inflation is very contained; it's not going anywhere.
across fed horizons inflation left months rising six waiting wondering
Inflation is rising in more sectors than it is falling. It is doing so across horizons of one month, six months and 12 months. We are left in all this wondering what the Fed is up to and what it is waiting for.
across areas broad concerned core declines fed growth inflation percent prices reason spectrum
Inflation decelerated across a broad spectrum of core CPI areas -- about 40 percent of prices in the core showed declines in their year-over-year growth rate. That's a big proportion. The Fed is concerned and has a reason to be concerned.