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Consumer confidence registers biggest monthly decline since August 2021 as inflation fears take hold​



“… Economic jitters are showing up across various sentiment surveys as the Trump administration aims to reconfigure America’s trade relationship with the world and inflation shows signs of getting stuck.

The latest evidence comes from The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for February, released Tuesday morning. The index fell to 98.3, falling for the third-straight month and marking the largest monthly decline since August 2021, as expectations for inflation in the year ahead climbed. That coincides with the trends reflected in the University of Michigan’s consumer survey for February.

Homebuilders are also growing worried, according to the National Association of Home Builders; even US small businesses, which remain somewhat optimistic about deregulation and tax cuts, are in doubt about the economy’s future. The National Federation of Independent Business’ Uncertainty Index rose in January to its third-highest reading on record. …”
For the Trumpers in the back…all these (legitimate) concerns are because Trump is president. This is all on you.
 

High mortgage rates and elevated home prices combined to crush home sales in January.

Pending sales, which are based on signed contracts for existing homes, dropped 4.6% from December to the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this metric in 2001. Sales were down 5.2% from January 2024. These sales are an indicator of future closings.
Trumpers - the high mortgage rates are also 100% on Trump. If you don’t believe, Google is your friend.
 
The median household income is around $75k a year

The average net worth of the top 10% is 6.9 million and hold 67% of the nation's wealth
The bottom 50% average net worth is $51,000 and hold 2.5% of the nation's wealth
And to be a bit more detailed, here is the most up to date info I see:

“The median net worth of the top 10% of US families was $3,794,600, according to Investopedia. The mean net worth was $7,810,500”

Median is a better representation than average because the ultra wealthy skew the average much higher.
 

Jobless claims spike, in worrisome sign for the US labor market​



“First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week, a likely indication of some “noisy” data, but also a potential worrisome hint that cracks may be forming in America’s long-solid labor market.

There were an estimated 242,000 jobless claims filed last week, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. That’s an increase of 22,000 from the prior week’s tally and a figure that landed well above economists’ expectations for 220,000 claims.

It’s the largest weekly spike in claims in more than four months and the weekly claims — a proxy for layoffs — are at their highest level since early December, Labor Department data shows. …”
 
And to be a bit more detailed, here is the most up to date info I see:

“The median net worth of the top 10% of US families was $3,794,600, according to Investopedia. The mean net worth was $7,810,500”

Median is a better representation than average because the ultra wealthy skew the average much higher.
I prefer the median because it keeps me in the top 10% 😉
 

Jobless claims spike, in worrisome sign for the US labor market​



“First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week, a likely indication of some “noisy” data, but also a potential worrisome hint that cracks may be forming in America’s long-solid labor market.

There were an estimated 242,000 jobless claims filed last week, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. That’s an increase of 22,000 from the prior week’s tally and a figure that landed well above economists’ expectations for 220,000 claims.

It’s the largest weekly spike in claims in more than four months and the weekly claims — a proxy for layoffs — are at their highest level since early December, Labor Department data shows. …”
Man, the Trumponomics are going to kill this country. Man, he sucks. FDT.
 
For the MAGAts, the majority of people sneaking fentenyl into this country are citizens if what country?

When you find that fact, who is responsible for search and seizure of their vehicles crossing the border by auto or plane?

And how will tariffs help this problem, aside from China?
The chemicals to make it aren't that expensive. Even if you stopped China , you probably wouldn't dent the fentanyl trade. It might drive prices up a little but since so little goes so far, that hardly matters at the wholesale level.

And, of course, there's this fallback.


Nitazenes were developed in the nineteen fifties and sixties and were meant to be a substitute for morphine. But they were so powerful that the FDA didn’t approve them. Now they’re a schedule one drug and illegal just like heroin and LSD. Nitazines are made in the lab and are inexpensive to produce. They block pain signals in the brain by binding to opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other sites in the body.
Depending on the chemical formulation, some nitazenes are 800 times more potent than morphine and 40 times more than even fentanyl! They come in liquids, pills, and powder form. And just as illegal street drugs can be laced with fentanyl, they can also contain nitazenes without the user knowing.
 
The median household income is around $75k a year

The average net worth of the top 10% is 6.9 million and hold 67% of the nation's wealth
The bottom 50% average net worth is $51,000 and hold 2.5% of the nation's wealth
Yes, I knew the median was around $75. $250 still just seems low for top 10%.

Of course, there's the big jump to get into the top 1%.

That article is sort of scarry. It begs the question of what has happened to the middle class.
 
And I guess 60% of them voted for trumpenomics
Smart Bunch
It's really very sad. We need our education system to do better. Of course that's not going to happen with the christian nationalist, project 2025, and the orange turd around.

I read an article the other day that stated the amount of money that Musk saved due to trumps 1st term tax cut. The article reported that the amount that Musk would have paid would have been enough to made SS solvent for decades.
 
The chemicals to make it aren't that expensive. Even if you stopped China , you probably wouldn't dent the fentanyl trade. It might drive prices up a little but since so little goes so far, that hardly matters at the wholesale level.

And, of course, there's this fallback.


Nitazenes were developed in the nineteen fifties and sixties and were meant to be a substitute for morphine. But they were so powerful that the FDA didn’t approve them. Now they’re a schedule one drug and illegal just like heroin and LSD. Nitazines are made in the lab and are inexpensive to produce. They block pain signals in the brain by binding to opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other sites in the body.
Depending on the chemical formulation, some nitazenes are 800 times more potent than morphine and 40 times more than even fentanyl! They come in liquids, pills, and powder form. And just as illegal street drugs can be laced with fentanyl, they can also contain nitazenes without the user knowing.
My one experience with morphine was in the ER after I cut my finger off. They gave me morphine for the pain. I was so loopy I was playing with my exposed bones.
 
Yes, I knew the median was around $75. $250 still just seems low for top 10%.

Of course, there's the big jump to get into the top 1%.

That article is sort of scarry. It begs the question of what has happened to the middle class.
Keep in mind what the median is. It is not the mean, or average. It is the point at which there are equal numbers of people above and below that point. The top 1% of earners is a miniscule number of actual people or households, especially for how far away they are from the median. So if the top 1% or even top 5% earned a tenth or even say 6% of what they actually earn, it would have little to no effect on the median.

Also, the 75K figure is a household total. Certainly, not every household has two earners, but a great deal do. I don't know the official stat, but let's say 40% of households have two earners. In that 40%, the average income for 2 people is just 75K combined.

As for 10% making $250K, that actually seems high to me. Imagine the crowd at a football game or a random group of 50K people in a city. The thought of 1 out of 10 couples earning $250K combined, or 1 out of 10 singles making $250K seems very high ti me. And the thought of 1 in 10 typical average, and uneducated rural MAGA voters making $250K is unfathomable. Probably closer to 1 out of 40.
 
Enough people walk away from jobs and the "employers" will wake up to the need for work life balance.

No level of productivity makes up for no employees to do the work.
I’m betting that companies and organizations that mandate being in the office 5 days a week will see productivity decrease and really good employees leave.
 
Thank you Sleepy Joe. Just as Obama did, you have handed Trump a very good economy on a silver platter.

Trump dropped the platter Obama served him; Let's hope he doesn't fuck up this time around...
I hope I’ll get a $20,000,000 check tomorrow from Publisher’s Clearing House tomorrow, but that’s not likely to happen. Neither is trump not fucking up the economy.
 
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