The Wall Street Journal reported today, “New U.S. claims for state unemployment benefits unexpectedly tumbled last week to their lowest level since the beginning of the year, as anticipated layoffs in the automobile industry failed to materialize as much as the government expected.  “Still, the data don’t necessarily imply better […]

NFIB’s state director, Jenna Kaluza says their successes are credited to members’ involvement. By Oregon Biz Report, The most important legislation the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) championed this cycle was House Joint Resolution 43, the Small Business Bill of Rights. Essentially, this resolution declares that small businesses should […]

Bloomberg reported today; ” U.S. apartment vacancies rose to their highest in 22 years in the second quarter as job losses cut tenant demand and more units came to market.Vacancies climbed to 7.5 percent from 6.1 percent a year earlier, New York-based real estate research firm Reis Inc. said today. […]

By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics BlogThe Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about the relative increase in the size of cities proper versus their suburbs.  Their economics blog also discusses it.  Why is this happening?  I can think of three reasons (all touched on by the article and discussion): […]

For those relying on consumer credit to come to the rescue recieved bad news this week on the latest credit card approval numbers.   USA Today reported, “In the first four months of the year — the latest data — banks issued 9.8 million new credit cards, a 38% drop from […]

By Bill Conerly, Oregon Economist Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC In the midst of the banking crisis, the Obama administration is considering sweeping financial regulations.  But before fixing problems with a sledgehammer, let’s assess which of these problems have fixed themselves.  It turns out that many of the private sector errors […]

by Charles Johnson Oregon Employment Department 6/23/09 Oregon’s per capita personal income growth has fallen behind national trends in recent years – in fact, the national growth rate was more than double Oregon’s rate from 2003 to 2008 (see Oregonians are Losing Ground to the Average American in last month’s […]

Bureau of Economic Analysis: Real spending on travel and tourism declined at an annual rate of 5.9 percent in 2009:1 after decreasing 6.9 percent (revised) in 2008:4.  By comparison, real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 5.7 percent (preliminary) in 2009:1 after a decrease of 6.3 percent in 2008:4.

652 Businesses Nationwide Being Served with Audit Notices By Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is launching a bold, new audit initiative today by issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 652 businesses nationwide – which is more than ICE issued throughout all […]

From Real Clear Markets (AP) Jeannine Aversa — “Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Workers also saw weekly wages fall, suggesting Americans will have little appetite to spend and the economy’s road to recovery will be […]