About Economic Pulse

The Economic Pulse is intended to provide a snapshot of where the U.S. economy currently stands, based on the collective evaluation of a mix of high frequency, alternative, and traditional indicators of economic activity It is intended to provide a quick explanation of how the U.S. economy is faring at present and identify emerging areas of opportunity (or risk) for businesses in the current economic environment. It includes an easy-to-read executive summary along with detailed information for the following key indicators:

  • Growth
  • Recession Tracker
  • Consumers & Labor
  • Housing
  • Supply Chains
  • Inflation
  • U.S. Regions

The report is constructed around a few key needs and assumptions:

Regular evaluation of high-frequency data: The economic downturn associated with the spread of the coronavirus was the fastest in US history, and the slope of the recovery has been changing on a daily or weekly basis. Although traditional economic indicators like the unemployment rate, quarterly GDP growth, or industrial production still provide the most accurate read of how the US economy is faring, the lag between data collection and release and backward-looking nature of these measures does not allow for an evaluation of the economy as it stands right now, which may be very different from how it looked a month (or even a couple of weeks) ago.

Qualitative assessment of quantitative measures: The Economic Pulse provides qualitative commentary on current quantitative measures It also summarizes the latest developments across several key interest areas and flags, where appropriate, critical opportunities (or risks).

State-by-state trends: From the state of the pandemic to measures of employment and consumer finances, different U.S. regions have had markedly different experiences The final page of the report collects a set of the most relevant and interesting indicators at a state by state level, allowing for side by side comparison of individual states across multiple measures.

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