Economic Commentary
Quirks in the January data: Income vs. consumption
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 […]
Cracks in consumption have started to appear
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 […]
Inflation: From let’s party to party pooper!
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 […]
Why is the Federal Reserve still concerned with inflation?
ECONOMY & POLICY February 09, 2024 Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions. The U.S. rate of inflation has continued to come down, with the price index for Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), which is the preferred inflation rate as well as the target rate of inflation used by the Federal Reserve (Fed) […]