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During an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su reacted to the July jobs report by stating that the July jobs number is “still over 100,000 jobs. It’s still broad-based.” And “generally, this is an indicator of continued strength in the economy.” Host Katie Greifeld asked, “You actually spoke to us back in June and said that we were looking at the definition of a soft landing. As you parse through these numbers, would you still say that today?”

CNN — Sometimes you see a polling result that jumps out from the page. That was the case when I saw a recently released Gallup poll on who Americans think can better handle the issue that is most important to them. Put in a historical context, this poll potentially portends very good things for Republicans come November. We’re all used to polls that ask voters which issue is most important to them. Gallup puts the question to Americans open-ended, meaning a respondent can say anything from the mundane (e.g. inflation) to the inane (e.g. clowns). Gallup, unlike other pollsters, has...

The core index of the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation went up in August, despite a historically aggressive campaign of interest rate hikes intended to slow it. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), which measures the value of goods and services purchased by “persons” residing in the U.S., was down slightly in August from 6.4% to 6.2% annually, but was higher than economists anticipated, according to CNBC. This decline was almost entirely off the back of falling energy prices, with so-called core PCE, which does not consider the more-volatile food and energy indices, increasing in August from 4.7%...

Killer gene The killer read his Bible. He drank. Heavily. It was a fall night in 2006, when Bradley Waldroup walked out of his rural trailer in southeastern Tennessee, carrying his .22 caliber hunting rifle. His estranged wife and her friend, Leslie Bradshaw, had just pulled up to drop off the Waldroups’ four children. Waldroup began arguing with his wife and Bradshaw, who was unloading the car. Drawing his gun, Waldroup shot Bradshaw eight times, killing her. He used a knife to cut her head open. He then chased his wife with the knife and a machete, managing to slice...

There has been increasing focus on the US economy's probability of heading into a recession. According to John Hussman of Hussman Funds, it's not just probable; it's nearly guaranteed. "Since October, the economic evidence has shifted from supporting a growing risk of recession, to a guarded expectation of recession, to the present conclusion that a US recession is not only a risk but an imminent likelihood, awaiting confirmation that typically only emerges after a recession is actually in progress," Hussman said in a post Monday. His key piece of evidence stems from Friday's US report on industrial production. The data...

I’ve turned up a 155-year indicator that suggests Hillary Clinton will not be elected next year–and offers some interesting perspective as to the market direction in 2016 and 2017. An old, little-known truth: Overwhelmingly, when Republicans are elected President, stocks soar during the year they are elected (this has held true every single election since World War II, except 2000, an election in which Al Gore won the popular vote). Average S&P 500 gain: 12%, presumably in anticipation of market-friendly policies. Then stocks flipped negative during most GOP inaugural years–presumably when investors realized the new guy was, yes, still just...

PBS's Tavis Smiley made a comment Thursday that every African-American as well as liberal media member should sit up and take notice. Appearing on Fox News's Hannity, Smiley said, "The data is going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Matt Drudge has been called many things but, unless I am mistaken, a stock market seer is not one of them. On Wednesday, someone did just that. Or, to be more specific, someone suggested that the Drudge Report is a contrary indicator. Same difference, really. Drudge made his name covering Monica and the blue dress, and continues to be a player in the political conversation. Anybody familiar with his site knows there's one big link at the top of it, and when he links, traffic follows. The enduring nature of his influence is awe-inspiring. And that's all he does, if...

Pacific Shipping Rates Surge To Record Highs -- Now 183% Higher Than 2009 Vincent Fernando, CFA Jun. 21, 2010, 9:38 AM Pacific shipping rates tracked by research firm Drewry (Their Trans-Pacific Charter Rate Benchmark) spiked 18.9% in just the last week, hitting a record high for Drewry's five-year old index. A 40-foot container from Hong Kong to Los Angeles cost $2,607 to ship as of June 14th, which is markedly higher than $2,193 just a week before. JOC: The apparent jump in spot pricing comes as demand on trans-Pacific lanes remains strong even as space on vessels remains tight and...

Help-Wanted Advertising Index The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index Declines April 24, 2008 The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index declined two points in March. The Index now stands at 19, down from 29 a year ago. The Conference Board is the global business research and membership organization. In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the East North Central (-20.3%), West North Central (-18.1%) and East South Central (-16.7%) regions. Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: "Print want-ad volume has shown a slightly declining trend over the past...

Dow slumps triple digits as Treasury yield curve inverts ($INDU, $COMPQ, $SPX, $TNX) by Tomi Kilgore NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed sharply and broadly lower, with the Dow industrials suffering its first triple-digit loss in 2 months, as the Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time in five years, sparking fears of a possible recession. The Dow ($INDU) slumped 105 points to an unofficial close of 10,778, its lowest close in 2 weeks and the biggest one-day point loss since Oct. 27. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ) shed 22 points to 2,227 and the S&P 500 ($SPX) slid...

Election hopes spark health stock rally By Laura Gilcrest, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 12:44 PM ET Nov. 2, 2004 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- An Election Day health-sector rally Tuesday could be tied to hopes that a perceived "market-friendly" President Bush will keep his job, plus renewed investor optimism over some key health-care firms. Shares in a multitude of companies among health insurers and pharmaceutical distributors were up several percentage points in morning trading, a few hours after polling sites opened. The most prominent example was drug distribution giant AmerisourceBergen (ABC: news, chart, profile), which rose $1.40 to $56 in early trading,...

<p>After an excruciating two-year bust, a technology recovery finally seems to be under way, but it's weak and hardly what Silicon Valley observers have hoped for.</p> <p>Sales among the largest 150 companies in Silicon Valley rose a modest 3.6 percent between the summer quarter and the fall quarter last year, particularly in computers, software and biotech. Early reports show sales continued to rise slowly through the end of the year, suggesting the technology sector probably hit bottom in the summer of 2002.</p>

The economy appears to be emerging from its late-summer funk, easing concerns about a possible double-dip recession. In a pre-Thanksgiving blizzard of reports, the government said yesterday that new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 21-month low last week. Consumer spending in October shot up at the fastest clip in three months, and orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods increased for the first time in three months. Article

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- A key gauge of U.S. economic activity rose a strong 1.2 percent in December, and the third consecutive monthly gain signaled that the nation's economy could be nearing a rebound.</p> <p>The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that the December gain in its Index of Leading Economic Indicators was the largest since February 1996 and followed a revised rise of 0.8 percent in November and 0.1 percent in October.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key forecasting gauge for the U.S. economy rose for a second straight month in November, signaling a possible economic recovery in the first half of 2002, a private research firm said on Wednesday. The Conference Board reported that the U.S. index of leading economic indicators rose 0.5 percent in November -- the largest rise since a 0.6 percent increase in May -- after a 0.1 percent gain the previous month. The November rise was slightly above the expectations of Wall Street economists who had forecast a gain of 0.4 percent. The leading economic index has risen ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key economic forecasting gauge rose in June for the third consecutive month, suggesting the struggling U.S. economy will strengthen in the second half of 2003, a private research firm said on Monday. The Conference Board said the index of leading indicators rose 0.1 percent in June, slightly below expectations of Wall Street economists, who had forecast it to rise 0.2 percent. ``After a weak first half, the leading economic indicators are suggesting a better economic performance in the second half of 2003,'' Conference Board chief economist Ken Goldstein said in a statement. But Goldstein warned even...

By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:14 AM ET July 21, 2003 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. leading economic indicators point to a better economy in the second half of the year, the Conference Board said Monday. The index of leading indicators rose 0.1 percent in June after soaring a revised 1.1 percent in May. It's the third straight increase in the index, which is designed to forecast economic performance six to nine months in advance. "This suggests that the flat trend in the leading index over the past year may have ended, but additional months of growth are needed to...