October was another solid month for America’s railroads, according to the Association for American Railroads. October traffic was 11% higher than the depressed levels of a year ago: Intermodal traffic (think trailers and containers) is up 14% over 2009, thus returning to 2008 levels: Carloads (think bulk materials like coal, grains, minerals, and chemicals plus autos) [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Economy’
October Rail Traffic – Still Upbeat
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, Macroeconomics on November 8, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Another Tepid Quarter for GDP
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, GDP on October 30, 2010 | 5 Comments »
BEA released its first estimates for third-quarter GDP yesterday. Headline growth was a disappointing, if not surprising, 2.0%. Here’s my usual graph of how various components of the economy contributed to overall growth: Housing fell back into the red, while non-residential structures eked out a small gain. Consumers continued to spend at a moderate pace [...]
August Rail Traffic, An Upbeat Economic Indicator
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, Macroeconomics on September 6, 2010 | 1 Comment »
August was a busy month for America’s railroads, according to the Association for American Railroads. Traffic spiked up, as often happens during the month. More importantly, August traffic was 11% higher than a year ago (the same gain as reported in July): Carloads (think bulk materials like coal, grains, minerals, and chemicals plus autos) are [...]
Further Signs of a Slowdown
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on August 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »
As expected, BEA’s second stab at GDP growth for the second quarter was even less inspiring than the first. Headline growth was a tepid 1.6%, down from the 2.4% previously reported. Consumer spending and business spending on equipment and software were actually stronger than earlier estimates, but business structures, inventories, and exports all weakened, while [...]
“Tracking” the Economy
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, Macroeconomics on August 9, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The fine folks at the Association of American Railroads are out with their latest edition of Rail Time Indicators. Total traffic (carloads plus intermodal) in July was about 11% higher than the dismal levels of a year ago, but remains about 10% below earlier years: The rebound has been weaker in carloads (think bulk materials [...]
A Silver Lining in Second Quarter GDP?
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Data, Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on August 1, 2010 | 9 Comments »
Last Friday the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first look at GDP growth in the second quarter. BEA estimates that the economy grew at a moderate 2.4% annual pace in the quarter, notably slower than the 3.7% pace in the first quarter and the 5.0% pace in the fourth quarter of 2009 (both those [...]
Consumer Spending is 60% of the Economy, not 70%
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Consumers, Data, Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on June 25, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Early Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its third look at economic growth in the first quarter. The results were disappointing: BEA now estimates that Q1 growth was only 2.7%, down from the prior estimate of 3.0%. A key reason: consumer spending was weaker than previously thought. As I noted in May, the monthly [...]
Consumer Spending is Not 70% of the Economy
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Consumers, Data, Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on May 27, 2010 | 10 Comments »
Journalists, commentators, and economists often say that consumer spending makes up 70% of the U.S. economy. Indeed, it’s easy to find several examples of that claim in today’s coverage of the latest GDP data (e.g., here). And, full confession, I’ve used that phrase a few times myself. There’s just one problem with the 70% claim: it’s [...]
Consumers Boosted GDP in Q1
Posted in Data, Economy, Macroeconomics, tagged Economy, GDP, Macroeconomics on April 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first look at Q1 GDP growth this morning. BEA estimates that GDP grew at a solid 3.2% annual pace in the first quarter. That’s slower than the 5.6% pace of the previous quarter, but is otherwise the strongest showing since the third quarter of 2007. The following chart [...]
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