New car unit sales for the month of April 2022 totaled 10,833, only 19 units more (0.2%) compared to April 2021. This slight increase comes after falling 4.4% in the March due to inventory challenges. Compared to April 2019, sales are up 47.4%. In the first four months of the year, sales are 0.9% above...Read More

Inflation in the United States exceeds expectations and increases the pressure on the Fed for new increases in the interest rate. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in April compared to March and an accumulating rise of 8.3% compared to April 2021. However, the data for April was above the 0.2% expected by the market for the...Read More

The Bureau of Labor Statistics published last week new reports for wages nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Average hourly wages for 2021 were $10.93hr, an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year. Total Nonfarm Payroll also increased to 843,810 wage workers according to the BLS. When analyzed by occupation, those in Life, Physical, and...Read More

In Puerto Rico, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 124.581 in March 2022, an increase of 5.1% compared to March 2021. This is the largest year over year increase seen in the CPI since May 2008, when it increased by 4.8%. This is the 21st consecutive month with an increase relative to the previous...Read More

The US economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate last quarter despite solid spending by consumers and businesses. This is the first contraction since the early days of the pandemic. This is also the first advance estimate so we will likely have a revised number in the following weeks.               Source: BEA The expectation for...Read More

With the objective to contain inflation, the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.5 points, leaving them between 0.75% and 1%. It is the second increase this year, they had already raised rates 25 basis points in March, and this is the largest increase in 22 years. This doesn’t come as a surprise...Read More

Wall Street stocks sank on Thursday morning, reversing gains from the previous session as markets reassessed the Federal Reserve’s moves to tighten monetary policy in response to inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.4%, the broad-based S&P 500 fell 3%, while the tech-rich Nasdaq fell 4.1%. These moves come after a major rally...Read More

Nothing has emphasized more the fragility of the global economy more than the pandemic. And while inflation has been the top subject in many of the reporting, we need to pay attention to the fact that the US relies heavily on the manufacturing in China for their goods in the US and many portions of...Read More

Puerto Rico’s General Fund net revenue was reported as a total of $906 million for the month of February 2022. Compared to February 2021, this was a $191 million increase, or 26.8%. Compared to the central government’s fiscal plan projections, this was 20% higher. Source: Puerto Rico Treasury Department General Fund net revenue for the...Read More

Cement production reached a total of 765 thousand 94lb sacks for the month of March 2022, while sales totaled 1,472 thousand 94lb sacks. Compared to the previous month of February, production increased by 144, or 23.2%. Compared to March 2021, production decreased by 0.7%. Source: Economic Development Bank of Puerto Rico Cement sales increased by...Read More