American Politics & Economy Pulse

Trump admin's bold fix for housing crunch: deregulate zoning, green codes, investors, immigration to build 13.2 million homes and ease affordability...

Mixed signals in March data highlight labor market normalization:

• BLS hot: Nonfarm payrolls up 178k—strongest in over a year—unemployment at 4.3%,...

PwC survey highlights executives' views on persistent tariffs:

• 86% expect import taxes to remain significant long-term
• Biden retained and...

Key steps in Fed's push to globalize instant payments:

• Unanimous rule amendment allows intermediaries for foreign legs, routing US via FedNow.
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North Carolina's unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% in January—unchanged from December and a year ago—remaining below the national 4.3%. Nonfarm...

Key trend: US-China AI model performance gap has effectively closed, with top US model ahead by just 2.7% as of March 2026.

• Infrastructure...

Reality check on upbeat talking heads: Only 2 positives hold—strong earnings (sans MAG7) and resilient stocks (poor predictor).

Overwhelming...

• Blistering debt growth: From $34T (Jan 2024) to $39T now—$1T in ~5 months, $8B/day, no crisis to blame.
• Projections worsen: $40T by Sep 2026;...

Key implications for Fed independence and prez firing powers:

• Court doubt: Justices skeptical of Trump's move to oust Gov. Lisa Cook over denied...

Key Fed findings link Trump's tariffs to recent price surges:

• Tariffs raised core goods prices 3.1% via full pass-through by retailers
• Explain...

Key Fed pivot post-2025 QT halt:

• Halted QT end-2025 due to repo market stress, resumed $40B/mo T-bill purchases adding $217B reserves since Dec.
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Massive tax burden: Cannabis firms face up to 70% higher rates under 280E, which bars expense deductions for Schedule I drugs like...

Key signals of small business labor stall:

• Job openings at 32% (down 1 pt), still above 24% historical avg.
• Employment Index drops 1.9 pts to...

Mixed manufacturing signals from February NAM data show resilience:

• Shipments rose 1.4% MoM (after 0.7% in Jan) and 2.7% YoY
• New orders virtually...

Multiple signals point to slowing momentum:

• 14 states saw higher unemployment since Jan 2025, amid strain where unemployed slightly outnumber...

• $7.3B annual taxpayer burden from undocumented immigration, led by education, healthcare, housing, legal aid, and public safety
• GOP warns state...

Diverging paths in US economic statecraft toward China: White House adopts transactional Nvidia H200 exports with caps and tariffs, balancing...

Goldman Sachs crushed Q1 amid market chaos: net revenues hit $17.23B (+14% YoY), net earnings $5.63B (+19%), EPS $17.55, and ROE 19.8%—second-highest...

Key flaws in the one-year 'Liberation Day' tariff review:

• Price confusion: Tariffs raise import prices (86-95% US burden), add 0.76pp to headline...

St. Louis Fed's MANEMP series provides graph and download access to U.S. manufacturing employment data from Jan 1939 to Mar 2026, capturing the establishment survey's headline figure for long-term trend analysis.