'Slow Hire, No Fire' Economy Confirmed As Jobless Claims Drop Near Record Lows

Cost Of California's High-Speed Rail Goes Up Again Authored by Kerry Johnson via  Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, It was supposed to cost $33 billion when voters approved the train in 2008. It will now cost at least $126 billion. It was also supposed to be carrying 65.5 million to 96.5 million intercity riders a year by 2030. Yet now 2040 is the date for “full service to start.” Skeptics don’t believe we’ll ever see the train run with paying customers aboard. “In my judgment, the Draft 2026 Business Plan describes a project that...

These Consumer Goods Could Be First To Vanish As "Supply Shock" Disrupts Asian Factories Goldman analysts warned that the petrochemical supply shock sweeping across Asia is now morphing into a full-blown COGS shock, hitting a range of industries with factories across the region. The immediate consequence is that manufacturers - from sofa makers to apparel producers - are being forced to dial back production and, in some cases, idle plants altogether as soaring petrochemical-linked input costs drive up the price of plastics and other key materials. In the note "Petrochemical...