Producer Prices Moderated in February 2022

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 15, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Producer Price Index data for February. The Index for Final Demand rose by 0.8% in February, down from a rise of 1.2% in January. The year-over-year increase was 10.0%, identical to the 12-month increase in January. In…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 10, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued the Consumer Price Index data for the month of February. The All Items Index rose by 0.8% in the month, after an increase of 0.6% for January. The increase for the 12 months ending in February was 7.9%, the highest 12-month.…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 4, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the employment report for February 2022. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.8%. The number of unemployed workers is now 6.3 million, edging down to the…

By Tom Burnett CFA Through the first two months of 2022, the commodities sector is the only positive performer among the three major asset categories—stocks, bonds, commodities. Looking at data from the WSJ.com website for March 2, 2022, the evidence is clear and compelling. The Bloomberg Commodity…

By Tom Burnett CFA The latest FACTSET report, February 25, 2022, lists the consensus earnings estimates for the S/P 500 Index for 2022 and 2023. The forecast for 2022 is now $225, which would represent an increase of 8.7% over the 2021 figure of $208. Last October, the consensus target for 2022 was only…