The latest estimates from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) indicated a decline in San Diego employment between December 2009 and January 2010.  But there is always a decline in employment between December and January, and as a matter of fact, this January's decline was est ... Read more

While clueless politicians and bankers have still not come up with decisions that could turn around the economy, Mr. Market may soon force them into action. Greece may dominate headlines these days, but this buys other equally distressed Eurozone economies time to fly under the radar. ... Read t ... Read more

Job openings hit new lows in November, down to 2.415 million from 2.571 million in October and 3.311 million in November 2008 according to the BLS. There were 6.35 unemployed people for every open job in November, a record high. The figures show the intractability of the unemployment problem. ... Read more

Weekly unemployment claims have probably peaked this cycle. However, initial claims still remain stubbornly high. Here is the Weekly Unemployment Claims Report for the week ending October 17, 2009. In the week ending Oct. 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 531,000 ... Read more

Briggs & Stratton (BGG) announced that revenues and profits are off. Big ride on mowers are not selling because people do not have the money. Smaller push mowers are selling because the price points work for cash strapped consumers. Simplistic and begs too many questions. They make this comment ... Read more

If you were worried about all this new money that has been coming into the system and its effects on inflation, you have at least another month (or much longer) before the worries will set in.  At least that is if you trust what the Labor Department said about March’s Producer Price Index.&nb ... Read more

Previously I discussed some of the differences between inflationary and deflationary economic environments. I’d like to pick up where I left off, mention one challenging aspect of deflation, and talk a bit about which environment we’re experiencing. Read the full article ... Read the full ... Read more

Warren Buffett is on CNBC this morning... From the CNBC live blog, a few Buffett comments: Economy is "close to the worst case." Can't imagine it being much worse... The economy "has fallen off a cliff." Buffett says consumers are "scared and confused." He hasn't seen ... Read more

From the Journal of Commerce: Idle Box Fleet Reaches 1.35M TEUs (hat tip Vincent) Idled ocean container capacity on March 2 reached a record 1.35 million TEUs with 453 ships without work as carriers continue to axe services in the face of collapsing cargo volumes and tumbling freight rates across ... Read more