Jack Kleinhenz is chief economist for the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association. Formerly with the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Kleinhenz is a contributing forecaster to The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, the Federal Reserve Bank …
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Checking the Foundation of the 2017 Housing Market
Solid demand and steadily increasing home prices have been two of the biggest housing headlines in 2017. To learn more about housing trends this year and predictions going into 2018, Hardware Retailing spoke with George Ratiu, director of quantitative and commercial …
Read More »Manufacturers’ Perspective: State of the Economy
Chad Moutray is the chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers and develops forecasts for the manufacturing sector. He previously worked as the chief economist and director of economic research for the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small …
Read More »2017 Holiday Sales Forecast: Online Shopping Up, Overall Sales to Climb
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 …
Read More »How Will Tariffs Impact the Solar Panel Industry?
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 …
Read More »GOP Proposes Tax Reform Bill, Drops Health Care
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 …
Read More »Consumer Confidence, Home Prices Rise
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 …
Read More »Home Improvement Spending to Reach $316B
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 …
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