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Look for predictability in the Fed's interest rate decision next week

Oct 29, 2024
While there's a lot of new economic data coming out between now and then, it will probably be relevant for later Fed meetings.
The Fed under Chair Jerome Powell, above, has a pattern: Set expectations and follow through.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

What is capacity utilization, and how is it relevant?

Oct 17, 2024
The extent to which industries make use of their production capacity has a bearing on inflation.
The U.S. economy's average capacity utilization rate was 77.5% for September.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Companies have our data. Why do they keep asking if we like them?

Sep 11, 2024
Constant requests for feedback can provide useful info for firms. But there are alternatives to overdoing it and annoying customers.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Gathering data on Native people is tricky. New federal rules won't help.

Jul 5, 2024
The changes will impact the way American Indians and Alaska Natives show up in federal data, and could further obscure our understanding of economic conditions for Native people in this country. 
Changes to how data on race and ethnicity is collected in federal forms  will impact the way American Indians and Alaska Natives show up in federal data.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

What does “seasonally adjusted” mean, anyway?

Jun 5, 2024
It’s one of those terms we hear attached to economic data all the time. But what is seasonal adjustment and how is it done?
It could appear that there's a recession each January because of the drop in seasonal workers, like mall Santas, after the holidays. Hence the importance of seasonally adjusting data.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Wave forecasting site Surfline has changed how people surf

Oct 4, 2023
Surfline follows conditions at hundreds of beaches all over the world, but some surfers don’t think it’s so swell.
Knowing the best time to hit the beach should be a win for surfers, right? "This gets at a question of the spirit of the sport," says writer and surfer Caroline Mimbs Nyce. "Is this a cheat code to only go when it's really ideal?"
Eros Hoagland/Getty Images

The monumental task of measuring the GDP over and over again

Sep 28, 2023
The keepers of GDP continually update their calculations as more information becomes available.
Measuring the economy requires continually revising data as more data becomes available.
Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

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A government shutdown would stifle flow of economic data

Sep 21, 2023
The threat comes just when the Federal Reserve really needs a clear picture of how the economy is doing.
The Federal Reserve relies on government-produced data to make monetary policy. Above, Chair Jerome Powell.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

How ride-hail companies use data to pay drivers less

Apr 10, 2023
Uber and Lyft drivers receive personalized wages based on data the companies collect about them, according to a new legal study.
A protest against California's Proposition 22 in December. One effect of the law is that ride-hail drivers are not entitled to a guaranteed minimum wage.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Work is a big part of what's making us unhappy, Gallup CEO says

Sep 27, 2022
Jon Clifton weighs in on workplace engagement, global unhappiness and why it's sometimes a good thing when polls confirm conventional wisdom.
"We spend so much of our lives at work," says Gallup CEO Jon Clifton. "There's one analysis that says it's 115,000 hours — which is 13 years of a person's life."
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images