Copyright (c) 2007 U.S. Chamber of Commerce /content/economy.htm /content/080701e.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:32:27 GMT Increased insecurity over inflation kept the FOMC from reducing rates at its latest meeting and kept the federal funds rate steady. /content/0807_econ.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:36:15 GMT /content/0807_6.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:24:43 GMT /content/080624e.htm Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:47:29 GMT The housing market remains weak as evidenced by a fall in new residential construction. /content/080617e.htm Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:14:32 GMT The stimulus payments spurred consumers to increase their spending in May, as retail sales rose. /content/080611.htm Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:01:53 GMT /content/080610e.htm Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:10:25 GMT Job hunters face a bleak outlook, as employers cut their payrolls and the unemployment rated jumped to 5.5% in May. /content/080603e.htm Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:17:43 GMT Economic uneasiness continued to weigh on the minds of consumers, driving consumer confidence to a 16-year low. /content/0806_10.htm Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:32:57 GMT /content/080530.htm Fri, 30 May 2008 20:05:41 GMT /content/080529.htm Thu, 29 May 2008 14:16:46 GMT /content/080527e.htm Tue, 27 May 2008 13:56:33 GMT The housing market continued to stumble, with existing homes sales falling in April. /content/080520e.htm Tue, 20 May 2008 14:11:21 GMT Inflation remained in check as consumers spending remained low in April and retail sales fell. /content/080513e.htm Tue, 13 May 2008 14:02:12 GMT The housing market remains weak and despite many good deals, pending home sales data indicates that existing home sales will not recover in the next few months. /content/080506e.htm Tue, 06 May 2008 16:04:55 GMT As expected, the FOMC cut rates to 2% in an attempt to spur economic growth. /content/0805_10a.htm Thu, 01 May 2008 18:03:30 GMT /content/080429e.htm Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:31:28 GMT Durable goods orders inched down 0.3% in March, as businesses purchased core capital goods. /content/080415e.htm Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:30:55 GMT Sales at retailers inched up 0.2% in March as consumers spent money at sporting goods stores and gasoline stations, though the latter is due to ongoing increases in energy prices, not increased demand for gasoline. /content/080408e.htm Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:48:33 GMT The labor market continued to struggle in March, as employers shed 80,000 jobs. /content/080407.htm Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:07:37 GMT /content/080401e.htm Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:47:32 GMT GDP growth remained sluggish, as the BEA announced that economy grew at a 0.6% annualized rate in the 4th quarter. /content/080401b.htm Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:31:22 GMT With six months to go in the elections, everyone is focused on the question: How will health care reform impact small and medium businesses? /content/080401a.htm Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:31:16 GMT The 60-minute film, Illicit: The Dark Trade, will air on PBS on April 16 and tells the behind-the-scenes story about the links between intellectual property (IP) theft and other illicit activities. /content/0804_10.htm Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:20:49 GMT /content/080331b.htm Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:05:34 GMT /content/080328.htm Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:20:53 GMT /content/080325e.htm Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:15:40 GMT The Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds rate 75 basis points, as problems continue to plague many areas of the economy. /content/080318e.htm Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:37:14 GMT Sluggish consumer demand and a slowing of the rise in energy prices caused the Consumer Price Index to remain steady in February. /content/080314.htm Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:56:52 GMT /content/080311e.htm Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:42:15 GMT In February, employers cut 63,000 jobs, fueling fears of a recession. /content/080304e.htm Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:50:56 GMT GDP growth remained sluggish, as the BEA announced that economy grew at a 0.6% annualized rate in the 4th quarter. /content/080226e.htm Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:58:59 GMT High energy prices continued to plague consumers as the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in January. /content/080219e.htm Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:18:06 GMT Strong spending at gas stations unexpectedly drove a rise of 0.3% in overall retail sales in January. /content/080212e.htm Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:54:04 GMT In December, factory orders rose 2.3%, lead by a surge in durable goods orders. /content/080212b.htm Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:43:55 GMT /content/080205e.htm Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:53:10 GMT The Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 3.00% at its regularly scheduled meeting. /content/080205a.htm Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:58:57 GMT /content/0802_e.htm Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:25:26 GMT /content/0802_7b.htm Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:59:42 GMT U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue fields questions from some of the 106 reporters who attended the Chambers State of American Business press conference on January 8. /content/080129e.htm Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:19:40 GMT The FOMC lowered the federal funds rate 75 base points to 3.5% as uncertainty over future economic growth continued. /content/080129a.htm Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:15:58 GMT In his final State of the Union address, President Bush called on Congress to make permanent the $1.6 billion in tax cuts implemented during his term. /content/080125.htm Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:33:33 GMT /content/080115e.htm Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:42:54 GMT /content/080108e.htm Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:49:06 GMT /content/080108a.htm Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:29:58 GMT /content/0801_10a.htm Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:48:31 GMT /content/071221.htm Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:42:33 GMT /content/071218e.htm Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:57:16 GMT December 18, 2007--The FOMC lowered the federal funds rate 25 base points to 4.25% as uncertainty over future economic growth continued. /content/071211e.htm Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:48:07 GMT The labor market created 94,000 net new jobs in November while the unemployment rate remained at 4.7%. /content/071204e.htm Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:04:59 GMT Both personal income and consumption rose 0.2% in October. /content/0712_6e.htm Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:19:02 GMT /content/071127e.htm Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:05:28 GMT November 27, 2007--Housing starts rose 3.0% in October but are down 16.4% compared to last year. Concurrently, the Conference Boards Index of Leading Indicators fell 0.5%. /content/071120e.htm Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:29:56 GMT Overall prices for consumer goods rose 0.3% in October while the core CPI increased 0.2%. /content/071113e.htm Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:19:49 GMT The labor market created 166,000 net new jobs in October as the unemployment rate remained at 4.7%. /content/071109.htm Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:15:59 GMT /content/071107.htm Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:58:50 GMT /content/071106e.htm Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:29:38 GMT At its latest meeting, the FOMC cut the funds rate 25 basis points to 4.50%, its second consecutive rate reduction. /content/0711_10e.htm Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:10:46 GMT When the Democratic Congress took control last November, it adopted the principle of PAYGO or pay-as-you-go as its overarching guideline for fiscal policy. /content/071030e.htm Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:51:17 GMT New home sales rose 4.8% in September to 770,000 units but are down 23.3% compared to last year. /content/071023e.htm Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:36:08 GMT Overall prices for consumer goods increased 0.3% in September, while the core CPI rose 0.2%. /content/071016e.htm Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:59:03 GMT The trade deficit narrowed in August, falling 2.4% to $57.6 billion. /content/071009e.htm Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:21:59 GMT In August, factory orders decreased a larger-than-expected 3.3% while consumer credit rose $12.2 billion to $2.47 trillion. /content/071002e.htm Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:08:57 GMT Personal income rose 0.3% in August while consumption grew 0.6%. /content/0710_10e.htm Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:41:51 GMT /content/070925e.htm Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:10:12 GMT For the first time in four years the FOMC cut the funds rate, reducing it to 4.75%. /content/070918e.htm Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:10:13 GMT The trade deficit narrowed in July, falling $0.2 billion to $59.2 billion. /content/070911b.htm Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:31:23 GMT The U.S. Chamber released a study this week that shows that proposed tax increases on carried interest--a share of investment profits that partnership managers are allowed to keep--would impact a variety of industries and harm U.S. competitiveness. /content/070911_e.htm Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:29:20 GMT The labor markets shed 4,000 jobs in August as the unemployment rate held steady at 4.6%. /content/070904a.htm Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:31:27 GMT While the short term economic forecast is favorable, there are storm clouds gathering on the horizon, according the U.S. Chamber Vice President and Chief Economist Martin Regalia. /content/070904_e.htm Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:29:20 GMT The GDP grew at a 4.0% rate in the 2nd quarter, a welcome improvement from the weak 0.6% growth in the 1st quarter. /content/0709_8c.htm Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:32:04 GMT If your business is located in Virginia, consider yourself lucky. Businesses operating in that state and in Utah and North Carolina enjoy the friendliest business environments in the country. /content/0709_6c.htm Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:32:09 GMT Despite their concerns about the economy, small business owners added new jobs and increased salaries at a record pace in the first six months of the year, according to a survey by online payroll provider SurePayroll. /content/0709_10a.htm Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:32:22 GMT After a year of growing at a very slow 1.5% pace, the economy grew at a robust 3.4% real growth rate in the second quarter of 2007. /content/070828_e.htm Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:29:21 GMT Housing starts fell 6.1% to 1.38 million units in July and are down 20.9% year-over-year. /content/070821_e.htm Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:26:20 GMT The consumer price index inched up only 0.1% in July as energy prices fell. /content/070814_e.htm Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:26:21 GMT Nonfarm business productivity increased 1.8% in the 2nd quarter as unit labor costs grew 2.1%. /content/070807_e.htm Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:26:22 GMT The labor market created 102,000 net new jobs in July as the unemployment rate increased to 4.6%. /content/0708_6a.htm Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:23:45 GMT /content/070731_e.htm Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:26:23 GMT The GDP recovered from a weak 1st quarter by increasing a larger-than-expected 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. /content/070724_e.htm Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:26:24 GMT Producer prices for finished goods fell 0.2% in June as food and energy prices dropped. /content/070717_e.htm Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:26:26 GMT Total retail sales fell 0.9% in June while core sales declined 0.3%. /content/070710_e.htm Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:26:28 GMT The labor market created 132,000 net new jobs in June as the unemployment rate remained at 4.5%. /content/070703_e.htm Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:26:29 GMT The GDP grew a paltry 0.7% in the 1st quarter as the weak housing market and soft trade hindered growth. /content/0707_5c.htm Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:23:28 GMT Several U.S. Chamber-backed tax and regulatory relief measures aimed at small businesses are buried deep in the Iraq supplemental spending bill signed by President Bush in May. /content/0707_10a.htm Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:23:28 GMT /content/070626_e.htm Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:26:29 GMT The housing market continues to struggle. /content/070619_e.htm Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:26:30 GMT Total retail sales increased a stronger-than-expected 1.4% in May. /content/070612_e.htm Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:26:32 GMT The trade deficit narrowed in April, decreasing $3.9 billion to $58.5 billion. /content/070605_e.htm Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:26:33 GMT The GDP grew an anemic 0.65% in the 1st quarter as the weak housing market and weak trade hindered growth. /content/0706_8c.htm Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:23:10 GMT Small business accounts for 50% of U.S. private nonfarm gross domestic product (GDP), according to a study by the Small Business Administration. /content/0706_10a.htm Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:23:09 GMT Inflation, the general increase in prices, is a well-known concept. We read about it in the press, we feel its impact in our pocketbooks, and the Fed watches it intensely in determining monetary policy. But it can also be confusing. /content/070522_e.htm Tue, 22 May 2007 19:26:35 GMT The consumer price index rose 0.4% in April while the core CPI inched up 0.2%. /content/070508_e.htm Tue, 08 May 2007 19:26:37 GMT The labor market created 88,000 net new jobs in April as the unemployment rate inched up to 4.5%. /content/070501_e.htm Tue, 01 May 2007 19:26:38 GMT The GDP grew an anemic 1.3% in the 1st quarter as the weak housing market and trade hindered growth. /content/0705_10a.htm Tue, 01 May 2007 17:22:51 GMT I still believe that the economy will gradually accelerate through the year and approach its long-run potential growth rate by year-end, but it is likely to be a nail-biter. /content/070424_e.htm Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:26:40 GMT The top-line CPI rose a less-than-expected 0.6% in March, while the core CPI inched up just 0.1%. /content/070417_e.htm Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:26:41 GMT The trade deficit narrowed by $0.4 billion to $58.4 billion in February, a 0.7% decline. /content/070410_e.htm Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:26:41 GMT The labor market created 180,000 net new jobs in March while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%. /content/070403_e.htm Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:26:42 GMT The GDP grew 2.5% in 4th quarter, a slight improvement for the 2.0% growth during the 3rd quarter. Personal income grew 0.6% in February while new home sales fell 3.9%. /content/0704_5a.htm Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:22:31 GMT As the U.S. Chamber continues its efforts to alleviate the federal tax burden on small businesses, more than a dozen states are undertaking similar efforts. /content/0704_4b.htm Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:22:32 GMT Small business startups are the most important factor propelling overall state economic growth, according to a recent report released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). /content/0704_10a.htm Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:22:32 GMT For me, Aprils arrival always seems to bring with it a sense of foreboding. /content/070327_e.htm Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:26:43 GMT Housing starts rebounded slightly in February, increasing 9.0% to 1.525 million units after plunging 14.3% in January. /content/070320_e.htm Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:26:44 GMT The top-line consumer price index rose 0.4% in February while the core CPI increased a more moderate 0.2%. Also, the producer price index surged 1.3% while the core PPI rose 0.4%. /content/070313_e.htm Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:26:46 GMT The labor market created 97,000 net new jobs in February while the unemployment rate fell to 4.5%. /content/070306_e.htm Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:26:47 GMT The GDP grew 2.2% in the 4th quarter and 3.3% for all of 2006. /content/0703_4b.htm Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:22:15 GMT The U.S. Chamber endorsed a House tax relief package for small businesses designed to offset the impact of raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. /content/0703_10a.htm Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:22:15 GMT With the release of the fourth quarter data, it is becoming clear to most economists that the economy has weathered the most recent storm and appears to be gathering momentum. /content/070227_e.htm Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:26:48 GMT The top-line consumer price index rose 0.2% in January while the core CPI increased 0.3%, slightly above expectations. /content/070220_e.htm Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:26:49 GMT The trade deficit increased $3.1 billion to $61.2 billion in a December, a 5.3% jump. Retail sales remained unchanged in January while industrial production decreased a larger-than-expected 0.5%. /content/070213b.htm Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:14:44 GMT President Bush sent a $2.9 trillion FY2008 budget proposal to Congress last week containing the extension and expansion of several small business benefits and programs supported by the U.S. Chamber. /content/070213_e.htm Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:26:50 GMT Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.8% in the 4th quarter, while non-farm business productivity jumped 3.0% during the same period. Consumer credit rose by $6.0 billion to $2.40 trillion in December. /content/070206_e.htm Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:26:51 GMT The GDP grew 3.5% in the 4th quarter and 3.4% for all of 2006. The labor market produced 111,000 net new jobs in January while the unemployment rate inched up to 4.6%. /content/0702_4b.htm Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:20:26 GMT Nearly half of private start-ups backed by venture capital in the United States were founded by one or more immigrants, according to a study by the National Venture Capital Association (www.nvca.org). /content/0702_10a.htm Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:20:25 GMT The economy closed 2006 with solid, if not spectacular, growth, improving employment, and slowing inflation-not bad for an economy that, according to the media, was supposed to be slipping into a recession. /content/070130_e.htm Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:26:52 GMT The Conference Boards Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.3% in December following an unchanged reading in November. /content/070123_e.htm Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:26:54 GMT The top-line CPI rose 0.5% in December while the core CPI inched up 0.2%. The PPI rose 0.9% in December, driven by higher energy prices. Industrial production was stronger-than-expected in December. Housing starts increased 4.5%. /content/070116_e.htm Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:26:55 GMT The trade deficit narrowed in November, decreasing $0.6 billion to $58.2 billion. Retail sales posted a stronger-than-expected 0.9% gain in December. /content/070109_e.htm Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:26:56 GMT The labor market produced 167,000 net new jobs in December. The unemployment rate remained at 4.5% while workers average hourly earnings increased 0.5%. /content/0701_iyc.htm Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:19:52 GMT Youre a small or midsize company ready to take the next steps in your expansion plan, but you lack the necessary capital. /content/0701_5a.htm Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:19:50 GMT /content/0701_10a.htm Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:19:51 GMT Although the economy clearly was not the major factor in the November elections, I was nonetheless often asked by the -unbiased- media what Democratic control of the House and Senate would mean for the economy.