Month: October 2023

Retail sales rose 0.7% on the month, according to the advance report the Commerce Department released Tuesday.

The numbers are not adjusted for inflation, so they indicate that consumers more than kept up with price increases. The consumer price index, released last week, showed headline inflation up 0.4% in September. On a year-over-basis, sales rose 3.8%, compared to the 3.7% increase for CPI.

Sales gains were broad-based on the month, with the biggest increase coming at miscellaneous store retailers, which saw an increase of 3%. Online sales rose 1.1% while motor vehicle parts and dealers saw a 1% increase and food services and drinking places grew by 0.9%, good for a yearly increase of 9.2%, which led all categories.

There were only a few categories that showed a decline; electronics and appliances stores as well as clothing retailers both saw decreases of 0.8% on the month.

Republicans who control the Wisconsin state Senate proposed sweeping changes Friday to Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ plans to address worker shortages in the state.

Governor Evers called a special legislative session that began in September in hopes of getting a $1 billion plan through the Senate and Assembly. The proposal would keep a pandemic-era child care subsidy program running, send more money to the University of Wisconsin and create a paid family leave program.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu’s office on Friday released a third plan that would cut income taxes for those making between $15,000 and $225,000 from 5.3% to 4.4%; create a state tax credit for families paying for child care; increase income tax deductions for private school tuition; make professional credentials granted to workers in other states valid in Wisconsin; and prohibit state examining boards from requiring counselors, therapists and pharmacists pass tests on state law and regulations.

The Senate plan also would enter Wisconsin into multistate agreements that allow physician assistants, social workers and counselors to work in all those states. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation could request money from the Legislature’s budget committee to help child care providers become certified.

The proposal also includes requirements that anyone who claims unemployment benefits to meet directly with potential employers, post a resume on the state Department of Workforce Development’s website and complete a re-employment counseling session if they have less than three weeks of benefits remaining.

A deal to fund renovations at American Family Field and ensure the Milwaukee Brewers stay in the city until 2050 cleared a state Assembly committee Thursday, setting up vote by the full Assembly early next week. It now has support from Democratic Governor Tony Evers, as well as from Milwaukee’s mayor and county executive.

State Representative Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, was worried that local taxpayers would be paying too much for the renovations, after the original proposal called for $5 million from the county and $2.5 million from the city in annual payments for the next 27 years.  But the county would be required to pay $2.5 million under the latest version of the bill, or half of what was originally required. And the city would be allowed to pay for its share of the annual payments by redirecting a state administrative fee on a new local sales tax passed earlier this year.

The deal now includes $546 million in public dollars for the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District. That district is charged with the oversight and monitoring of the operations and maintenance of American Family Field, including the trademark retractable roof and the stadium’s video board.

The Brewers would contribute around $100 million, while the majority of state funds would come from income taxes, including from Brewers players and employees, as well as from visiting players. Part of the plan includes winterizing the stadium, so it can be used for events in colder months.

The 1995 Brewers deal to construct Miller Park authorized government bonding, or borrowing, to pay for construction of the stadium. Borrowing for the project totaled more than $259 million, according to a 2019 memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Taxpayers in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha and Racine counties paid an extra 0.1 percent sales tax to retire that debt and the associated interest. Governor Evers signed a law in 2019 requiring the local sales tax to expire in 2020.

The full Assembly is scheduled to vote on the latest Brewers deal Tuesday.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. households that heat with natural gas or are in the West will spend less on heating costs this winter than last winter. In its 2023 Winter Fuels Outlook, EIA forecasts residential natural gas prices this winter will be about 21% lower than last winter. Natural gas is the most common source of heat for U.S. households.

“Natural gas prices this year have been consistently lower than in 2022. Even if this winter is colder than forecast, we still expect households heated by natural gas to pay less for heat this winter,” said EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis.

Costs for households heating with propane and electricity are likely to remain relatively flat. For homes that use heating oil, EIA expects that heating expenses will be somewhat higher this winter. Warmer-than- or colder-than-expected temperatures could affect heating oil costs

The United States typically consumes more heating fuels than it produces during the winter, so inventories become an important factor in commodity prices. Heading into this winter heating season, inventories for most heating fuels in most of the country are above the five-year average, following a relatively mild end to the 2022–2023 winter. EIA expects U.S. natural gas inventories will end October 6% above the five-year average, and propane stocks are currently 17% above the five-year average.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that its Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers, climbed 0.5% in September from the previous month. On an annual basis, prices are up 2.2%, the largest increase since April.

In another sign that suggests high inflation has been slow to dissipate, core prices – which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy – rose 0.3% for the month. That is higher than both the 0.2% estimate and the reading recorded last month.

The figure was up 2.2% on a 12-month basis.

The data comes one day before the Labor Department releases its more closely watched consumer price index, which measures the prices paid directly by consumers. The gauge is expected to show that inflation cooled ever so slightly last month as high prices continue to squeeze consumers.

Both releases are considered to be important measurements of inflation, with the PPI believed to be a leading indicator of inflationary pressures as costs work their way down to consumers. The different gauges point to inflation that is still running above the Federal Reserve’s preferred 2% target.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted Monday to reduce from 20 years to two years the time when most eviction records must be kept on the state court website, commonly referred to by the acronym CCAP.

Legal Action of Wisconsin sought the change for cases where there is no money judgment against a tenant. At a hearing last month, tenant advocates said the change would help renters with eviction histories, since many landlords rely solely on the statewide court website for determining whether to rent to someone.

Numerous landlord groups, including the Wisconsin Realtors Association, opposed the proposal. They argued that changing the rule could result in landlords charging higher rental deposits to protect themselves, a change that will negatively affect all renters.

Last year in Wisconsin, there were 25,819 filings for eviction with 1,621 resulting in judgment of evictions being granted, according to the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Wisconsin utility regulators approved rate hikes for electric and natural gas customers served by two of the state’s largest utilities on Thursday, but they reduced profits utilities can collect amid outcry from financially-strapped ratepayers.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved overall electric rate hikes of 8.8 percent for We Energies and 9 percent for Wisconsin Public Service, according to commission staff. The increase is higher than what utilities initially proposed, but less than changes they suggested later that would have shifted more costs to residential customers.

This fall, the utilities owned by Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group asked for electric rate hikes of 13 percent for We Energies residential customers and a nearly 15 percent increase for Wisconsin Public Service, or WPS, ratepayers. That increase would have cost the average homeowner at least $14 more per month beginning in January.

Now, We Energies residential customers will see a nearly 11 percent increase that will cost them $11 to $12 more per month, according to preliminary figures from the commission and utilities. WPS customers will spend $9 more per month.

For natural gas, commission staff estimate rates will increase 6.2 percent, or roughly $47 annually, for Wisconsin Gas customers and 9.5 percent, or roughly $63 annually, for Wisconsin Electric Gas customers. WPS gas rates will climb 7 percent overall. With heating bills slated to rise, the utilities expect gas customers to pay $20 to $30 more per month this winter, including the rate hikes.

The commission is expected to finalize and approve a written order on its decision this month. We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers and 1.1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Public Service provides electricity to 457,000 electric customers and 338,000 natural gas customers.

The U.S. labor market surged in September, by adding 336,000 jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. It’s the largest monthly employment gain since January and is significantly above August’s net gain of 227,000 jobs, which was revised up by 40,000 from initial estimates.

In September, leisure and hospitality helped drive job growth higher, with 96,000 jobs added. That’s above the pace of 61,000 jobs a month that this sector has seen during the past 12 months, according to the BLS report. Government jobs also saw a hefty boost, rising by 73,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% in August, and the number of unemployed workers was essentially unchanged at 6.4 million.

Job growth may be generating plenty of heat, but wages are cooling off. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.2% in September, bringing the annual gain to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs report released Friday.

September’s wage growth is the lowest seen monthly since February 2022 and year-over-year since June 2021, noted Andrew Patterson, Vanguard senior economist.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of mortgage applications fell 6% last week to the lowest level since 1996, according to new data published Wednesday.

The data also showed that the average rate on the popular 30-year loan climbed for the fourth straight week to 7.53%, the highest level since 2000. By comparison, just one year ago, rates hovered around 5.65%.

“Mortgage rates continued to move higher last week as markets digested the recent upswing in Treasury yields,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist. “As a result, mortgage applications ground to a halt, dropping to the lowest level since 1996.”

Demand for refinancing also fell further last week, sliding another 7%, according to the survey. Compared with the same time last year, refinance applications are down 11%.

“The purchase market slowed to the lowest level of activity since 1995, as the rapid rise in rates pushed an increasing number of potential homebuyers out of the market,” Kan said.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday ousted Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The 216-to-210 vote marked the first time in history that the House removed its leader, with eight Republicans voting with 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy. McCarthy told reporters he would not make another run for speaker.

Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 majority, meaning they can afford to lose no more than five votes if Democrats unite in opposition. McCarthy’s ouster as speaker brings legislative activity in the House to a halt

Republican leaders like Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer could possibly be candidates, though neither has publicly expressed interest. Representative Patrick McHenry was named to the post on a temporary basis. Multiple Republicans said they planned to meet on Oct. 10 to discuss possible McCarthy successors, with a vote on a new speaker planned for October 11.