At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany over the weekend, Japan and the European Union announced an agreement in principle for a new trade accord. And they touted free trade at a time when they see America shifting towards protectionism. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris climate agreement […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to encourage more companies to go public. More IPOs, the thinking goes, can be good for the economy. Starting today, the government has instituted a new rule allowing all companies, regardless of their size, to file IPO paperwork confidentially. The filings don’t become public until about 15 days before […]

The June employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed strong job growth – 222,000 – and a 0.1 percent rise in the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent, as more job-seekers entered the labor force. But the rise in average hourly earnings was anemic—up 0.2 percent month over month, 2.5 percent year over year. […]

The June unemployment report is out today, and we’re looking at which jobs are in demand in our near-full employment economy. How can you tell which occupations are hard to fill? One way is to see where employers are raising salaries to attract new workers. Pharmacy tech, registered nurse, software engineer, data scientist — if […]

At the G20 meeting of world leaders this week, President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are sure to talk about trade. Trump has been outspoken — on Twitter, at least — about the U.S. needing to shrink the “massive” trade deficit it has with Germany. The Commerce Department says the U.S. trade deficit did […]

Rising home prices have led to higher consumer confidence, but will that translate into more consumer spending in the near future?