Tag Archives: economy

Retailers across the country are gearing up for a busy holiday sales season, with sales projected to be 3.6 to 4 percent higher than last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reports. That increased spending can add up for independent …

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced its decision last week that U.S. solar panel manufacturers are negatively impacted by imported solar panels, specifically from Mexico and Korea. According to the report, the ITC will hold a public hearing on remedy on …

Republican leaders in Congress proposed a plan Wednesday to reform the U.S. tax code, The New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, the GOP tax reform plan calls for reduced taxes for the wealthy, the middle class and businesses and preserves …

U.S. consumer confidence rose in the second quarter of 2017, showing a nearly 25 percent increase over year-to-year 2016 levels. Prices of existing home sales also continued to climb, buoyed by a June 2017 peak.  The Consumer Confidence Index rose …

According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, Americans are expected to spend $316 billion on home improvement upgrades this year, reports The Wall Street Journal. Because of this growth in home improvement spending, home improvement retailers have continued to …

A June 2017 Harvard Business Review study finds that shuttered retail spaces can lead to an increase in crime and theft in their immediate vicinity. However, an operational store can provide communities roughly $30,000 annually in social benefits by reducing crime and …

Kermit Baker is a senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard University and the project director of the Remodeling Futures Program. The goal of this program is to develop an improved understanding of the dynamics of the U.S. …

Jack Kleinhenz is chief economist for the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association. Formerly with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Kleinhenz is a contributing forecaster to The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Federal Reserve Bank of …