Daily Brief: Trade Deficit Hits 17-Month High at $105.6 Billion in August
The U.S. trade deficit swelled to $105.6 billion in August, the widest gap since March 2025, as a $17.2 billion import surge overwhelmed export gains.
Daily Brief: Job Openings Hold at 7.1 Million as America’s Labor Shortage Entrenches
JOLTS shows 7.1M openings and flat hiring. September payrolls added just 29K. The worker shortage has gone structural and the math is getting worse.
Daily Brief: September Jobs Miss Badly — Only 29K Added as Hiring Cools
Employers added just 29K jobs in September, a massive miss against 90K expected. Unemployment rose to 4.2% as markets rallied on fading rate-hike odds.
Daily Brief: Construction Spending Surges 0.9% as ISM Manufacturing Slips to 54.5
ISM Manufacturing slipped to 54.5 in September while construction spending unexpectedly surged 0.9% — a tale of two economies as jobless claims hold at...
Daily Brief: GDP Revised to 2.2% — Q2 Economy Was Stronger Than Anyone Thought
GDP revised up 0.7pp to 2.2% as PCE inflation cools to 3.4% YoY. Consumer spending surges 0.6% but monthly inflation ticks higher. The soft landing...
Daily Brief: Consumer Confidence Plunges 6.7 Points — Biggest Drop in Over a Year
Consumer confidence crashed to 81.9 in September, a 6.7-point miss vs. consensus. Rate hikes, Iran Strait tensions, and a softening labor market all...
Daily Brief: 7.3 Million Openings, Half a Million Missing: America’s Labor Shortage
The U.S. has 7.3M job openings but a shrinking workforce. Construction needs 500K workers. Manufacturing faces a 2.1M gap by 2030. Here's where it...
Daily Brief: The Week the Fed’s Bet Gets Tested
Jobs, PCE, ISM, and GDP all drop this week in the most consequential data gauntlet since the Fed's September rate hike. Here's what to watch.
Daily Brief: Core Capital Goods Orders Jump 1.6% as Business Investment Defies the Doomers
Durable goods orders beat forecasts in August, but a 1.6% surge in core capital goods tells the real story: business investment is not slowing down.
Daily Brief: Jobless Claims Slip to 197K as US Labor Market Refuses to Blink
Initial claims fell to 197K against a 200K consensus. With PMIs surging and continuing claims flat, the US labor market is a fortress.