Let's Track the Economy (with objective empirical data?)

[Akita Suggagaki]

Deficit

$838 B

U.S. budget deficit surged in February, passing $1 trillion for year-to-date record

Government spending eased slightly on a monthly basis though it still far outpaced revenue, according to a Treasury Department statement Wednesday. The deficit totaled just over $307 billion for the month, nearly 2½ times what it was in January and 3.7% higher than February 2024.

Receipts and expenditures set records for the month, a Treasury spokesman said.

For the year, the deficit totaled $1.15 trillion through the first five months of fiscal 2025. The total is about $318 billion more than the same span in 2024, or roughly 38% higher, and set a record for the period.

Thanks for that. getting consistent number is not as easy as one might think. That was an AI summary,

Google Search

But the link takes me to $1,146,601,892,601

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

How is this for a month of Trump?
Dow Jones Industrial Average

40,904.56
-8.51%
-3,806.87 1M

 

[essentialsaltes]

How is this for a month of Trump?
Dow Jones Industrial Average

40,904.56
-8.51%
-3,806.87 1M

You said it, Donald.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Trump Says Recession Unfortunate But Necessary Step To Get To Depression​

Trump says a recession might be worth the cost. Economists disagree.​

President Trump and his advisers say his policies may cause short-term pain but will produce big gains over time. Many economists are skeptical of those arguments.​

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said Trump’s policies are “worth it” even if they cause a recession. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the economy may need a “detox period” after becoming dependent on government spending. And Trump has said there will be a “period of transition” as his policies take effect.

Such comments may partly reflect an effort to align political statements with economic reality. Trump promised to end inflation “starting on Day 1” and declared, in his inaugural address, that “the golden age of America begins right now.”

“It’s the kind of language that you use when your policy isn’t going great and you can see that it’s actively harming people,” said Sean Vanatta, a financial historian at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Dow sinks 600 points. Stocks are on track for their worst quarter since 2023​

 

[Pommer]

Dow sinks 600 points. Stocks are on track for their worst quarter since 2023​

Bubbles are like that, yes.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Tariff woes depress US manufacturing, erode labor demand​

U.S. manufacturing contracted in March after growing for two straight months, while a measure of inflation at the factory gate jumped to the highest level in nearly three years amid rising anxiety over tariffs on imported goods.

Anecdotes from the Institute for Supply Management survey on Tuesday offered a gloomy assessment of business conditions, with tariffs cited as a major factor by manufacturers. President Donald Trump's wave of tariffs has eroded business and consumer confidence.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.0 last month from 50.3 in February. A PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10.2% of the economy. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI would slip to 49.5.

the nascent recovery [of early 2025] appears to have been snuffed out by Trump's tariffs.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Dollar sinks as investors grapple with tariff aftermath​

The U.S. dollar sank against major peers on Thursday, dropping to six-month lows against the euro, and the safe haven yen and Swiss franc

 

[Pommer]

Dollar sinks as investors grapple with tariff aftermath​

The U.S. dollar sank against major peers on Thursday, dropping to six-month lows against the euro, and the safe haven yen and Swiss franc

“Dump-and-pump”?
Just think of how rich Elon will be when he scoops up Apple when it goes to the “penny-markets” and he takes it over and works his savvy business magicks?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Labor market adds 228,000 jobs in March, beating expectations​

The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent as workers, enticed by higher wages, flooded into the labor market.

 

[essentialsaltes]

LA Times crossword editors getting spicy

 

[Belk]

LA Times crossword editors getting spicy

View attachment 363093

Ouch!

 

[essentialsaltes]

The consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, showed Wednesday that prices rose by 2.8 percent in February from a year earlier,

Consumer prices rose 2.4% in March compared to a year ago, marking a cooldown during a period that preceded the recession warnings and market turmoil following President Donald Trump's recent escalation of tariffs. The reading came in lower than economists expected.

Even as overall cost hikes slowed, egg prices soared 60% higher than a year prior. Bird flu has decimated the egg supply, lifting prices higher.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Consumer confidence at 12-year low.

 

[loveofourlord]

Consumer confidence at 12-year low.

gee with the stock market tanking again I couldn't imagine why.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Consumer confidence at 12-year low.

Economic Policy Uncertainty reaching history-making highs!

 

[Belk]

Economic Policy Uncertainty reaching history-making highs!

View attachment 363441

 

[essentialsaltes]

 

[essentialsaltes]

Consumer prices rose 2.4% in March compared to a year ago, marking a cooldown ...

President Trump claims to have solved US inflation amid market turmoil​

Speaking in the Oval Office during his meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on Monday, Trump seized on the latest monthly consumer price report, which shows a 2.4% inflation rate for March.

"We have to solve problems, and we already solved inflation."

...during a period that preceded the recession warnings and market turmoil following President Donald Trump's recent escalation of tariffs.

 

[loveofourlord]

it never fails to amaze me how much trump loves to lie about easily checkable stuff