Economic Commentary

ECONOMY & POLICY March 08, 2024   Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Sometimes, and February was one of those times, the information on the U.S. labor market doesn’t make sense. Many argue that government agencies are cooking the books. However, the counter argument is: Why wouldn’t they cook the books ‘consistently,’ […]

ECONOMY & POLICY March 01, 2024   Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Personal income increased more than expected in January, up 1.0% (or $233.7 billion). The increase in January closely matches what happened in January of 2023 when it increased by 0.95% (or $213 billion). However, the composition of the increase […]

ECONOMY & POLICY February 23, 2024   Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. From a very weak retail sales report for January 2024 to stronger inflation readings as well as increases in credit card and auto loan delinquency rates during the last quarter of 2023, the picture for consumer demand has weakened […]

ECONOMY & POLICY February 16, 2024   Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. Even at the risk of sounding like a parrot by repeating the same thing again and again, we think that it is, once again, appropriate at this time to do so: “One data point doesn’t a trend make.” But […]