It's early in the game, but based on what we have seen, this is beginning to play out as a soft landing. |
It's still a welcome number. It showed sustained labor conditions outside of the areas impacted by the two hurricanes. |
January marked an end to the economic concern caused by the hurricanes ... and the related increase in oil prices. |
Look at the two months together, average them out, what we still get is a fairly healthy picture of the consumer coming out of the fourth-quarter doldrums. |
On the whole this will assuage some of the concern that's been bubbling up about inflation since the start of the year and should keep the Fed on its measured path for now. |
slow, drawn-out affairs, taking an average of three years to play out. |
Taking it at face value, the hurricane played a big role in contributing to the weakness. Consumer spending was abysmal in October and November. It's an extremely weak report overall. |
The apparent influence of White House economists has been quite small throughout the Bush administration, which hasn't changed much of late. |
The credit markets have been very useful guides to industry prospects. Whatever reassuring signals they are sending shouldn't be ignored. |
The economy is rapidly getting back on course. The Fed is going to be concerned with inflation risks, and will lean toward raising rates further. |
There are not a lot of surprises here. We knew February will be a down month in spending after a torrid January due to mild weather. This is exactly what we got. |
There's already been a considerable softening in housing demand which preceded the recent rise in mortgage rates. Which leads me to believe that the weakness at a minimum will continue, and may likely accelerate. |
These areas are at an especially high risk of future price corrections, |
This is a return to normalcy, and that is especially good after what seemed like a much more serious event for the economy just a month or two ago. |
This is a very favorable report. In the context of what we've seen in the recent past, the Fed is right to say that inflation has been quiescent. It gives them more latitude to forestall an inevitable rate hike. |