South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Manufacturing In The South Atlantic: October

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s latest survey of manufacturing activity in the South Atlantic (District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia):

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region continued to contract in October, according to the Richmond Fed’s latest survey. The index of overall activity remained at last month’s level with all broad indicators — shipments, new orders, and employment — landing in negative territory. Continued softness was also evident in most other indicators. District contacts reported more moderate weakness in backlogs and capacity utilization, but noted that delivery times and raw materials inventories grew at a somewhat quicker pace.
…
Looking ahead, manufacturers’ assessments of business prospects for the next six months were on par with last month. Contacts at more firms anticipated that shipments, new orders, backlogs, and capacity utilization would grow roughly on pace with September’s expectations, while growth in capital expenditures would be faster.

Around The Dial – October 26, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Greg Sargent reports on “how Obama’s job policies would really impact the rich.”
• Mark Thoma argues that “income inequality is hobbling the middle class.”
• Jan Eberly of the Treasury doesn’t buy the argument of  “regulatory uncertainty.”
• Martin Wolf has some advice for the European Central Bank.
• Off the Charts explains why block granting Medicaid is a a bad idea.

SBN In The News: October 2011

A variety of media outlets have featured the work of South by North Strategies so far in October:

• The News & Observer: “NC jobless rate up again”
• The Charlotte Observer: “NC jobless rate up again”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “NC jobless rate continues to rise”
• The Triangle Business Journal: “Job cutting by governments a drag on NC”
• The Progressive Pulse: “State unemployment rate moves in the wrong direction”

Who Uses The EITC?

Off the Charts highlights new research that shows that more working families take advantage of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) than is commonly thought. And, most of those workers take advantage of the credit for no more than two consecutive years, which suggests that the EITC is helping households cope with temporary economic setbacks.

Around The Dial — October 25, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• The Washington Post reports on the administration’s housing policies.
• Jared Bernstein opines on the economic role of small businesses.
• Bruce Bartlett explains why the GOP puts tax reform behind tax cuts.
• Felix Salmon is not a fan of HARP II.
• Politico, of all places, points out that long-term care is a serious problem.