Politics, News, Comments & Other Good Stuff....
By jamesb
Told ya so….
Most economists see a recession coming….
The Fed did NOT raise interest rates this time around other…
Hmmm?
The U.S. government’s blowout January jobs report had the lowest response rate in a decade.
Why it matters: Economists suspect that the 60.7% hit rate on the establishment survey from the 142,000 businesses and government agencies typically surveyed could mean a downward revision to the whopping 304,000 new jobs added in January.
December’s initial response rate came in at 61%, but the follow-up survey’s response rate ticked up to 88%. That led to a significant downward revision of December’s payrolls from an initially reported 312,000 to 222,000.
“After a banner year, many small businesses are becoming more cautious about their investment and hiring plans,” The Wall Street Journal’s Ruth Simon reports.
By the numbers: “Economic confidence among small firms, which edged downward for much of 2018, in January reached its lowest level since President Trump’s election, according to a monthly survey of 765 small firms for The Wall Street Journal by Vistage Worldwide. … Just 14% of firms expect the economy to improve this year, while 36% expect it to get worse.”
Why it matters: “We could be at a turning point,” said Richard Curtin, a University of Michigan economist who analyzed the data, told the Journal. “Recessions are not made of one firm collapsing, but of many firms cutting back in marginal ways.”…..
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