Forté Capital's Selected Statistics Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index The Federal Reserve recently affirmed its commitment to a long-term inflation target of…
Quarterly Real U.S. GDP Growth The estimates for second quarter GDP growth range from −20% to −51%, with the average from the Blue Chip consensus…
U.S. Treasury Yield Curve The financial turmoil caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic extended into the bond market, as investors drove yields down and raised…
U.S. Treasury Yield Curve The U.S. Treasury yield curve is inverted from 30 days to 3 years, reflecting the fear of an economic slowdown due…
Industrial Production Index Industrial production improved in the latest report, due largely to better output of automobiles and parts following the settlement of the GM…
ISM Manufacturing Index The latest ISM data point confirms a slowdown in the manufacturing sector. While GDP grew by 2.1% in the third quarter, manufacturing…
Non-farm Payroll The U.S. labor market has remained tight. There are more jobs available than applicants; in particular, skilled labor positions remain unfilled in some…
Treasury Yield Curve The yield curve has inverted; that is, short-term interest rates are now higher than longer-term rates. This phenomenon can indicate the potential…
ISM Manufacturing Index The manufacturing sector is slowing, especially the export sectors. According to the ISM survey of purchasing managers, there is concern over the…
The Once and Future Worker
A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America
The Once and Future Worker by Oren Cass will be of interest to CPAs on at least three important fronts. First, in running CPA firms, a…
ISM Manufacturing Index There are further signs of a slowing economy in 2019. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Index, while still above 50%,…
Quarterly Real U.S. GDP Growth First quarter Gross Domestic Product, released on April 26, rose 3.2% versus estimates that averaged approximately 2.5%. The higher-than-expected increase…
U.S. Wages and Salaries Growth Wages grew by 4.16% during January 2019 versus the same period in 2018. According to Trading Economics, this is below the long-term…
Real Wages—All Employees After many years of stagnant real wage growth (adjusted for inflation), the U.S. labor market saw improvement in wages paid. This was…
Effective Federal Funds Rate, 1954–2018 Much of the anxiety seen in the stock markets in the fourth quarter of 2018 was the result of aggressive…
Treasury Yield Curve The yield curve continued to flatten as short-term interest rates rose relative to longer-term rates. The Federal Reserve has made clear its…
Quarterly Real U.S. GDP Growth The U.S. economy is coming off of its tax cut–induced bump. Estimates of 2019 GDP are coming down, as indicated…
Wages Real wages—that is, wages adjusted for inflation—have resumed rising after a dip in 2016. This trend reflects tight labor market conditions and increased inflationary…
Quarterly U.S. GDP Growth First quarter GDP growth was 2.63%, the lowest in four quarters; however, the expectations for the current quarter range from 3%…
U.S. Unemployment Rate Unemployment trends remain strong, as indicated above. The most recent unemployment rate was 3.9%, with 164,000 new jobs recorded in the most…
U.S. Unemployment Rate The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.1% for the sixth straight month. More robust economic growth, due in part to the federal…
General Commentary On the whole, the most recent economic data portends a slight lessening of domestic growth. While employment trends are positive, the ISM manufacturing…
U.S. Macro Outlook for Tax Reform
A Plan That Doesn’t Get It Done
The sweeping changes to the tax code passed by the Trump administration and the Republican Congress will significantly impact the near-term economic outlook. The $1.5…
Forté Capital’s Selected Statistics: Employment Situation
Economic and Market
Employment Situation Payrolls increased by 235,000 jobs in February, well above the consensus expectations. Much of the strength was in goods-producing industries, which added 95,000…
The third panel of the First Annual Sustainability Investment Leadership Conference addressed how investors judge sustainability information when assessing a company's value. The conversation also…
In Brief The sharing economy and mobile commerce are becoming popular ways of conducting business. This article explains the Internet-based economy and the mobile accounting…