Inflation and Interest Rates

• Inflation Expectations Valeo Financial Advisors
• Financial repression: “Since 2008, personal interest income plunged 30%” which is “more than 4% of disposable income” The Economist

Europe

• The ECB forecasts that the Eurozone economy will shrink in 2013 The Telegraph

U.S. Economy

• November payroll employment rises (+146,000); unemployment rate edges down (7.7%), the lowest since 2008 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Q3 productivity revised upward to an annual rate of 2.9 percent, the highest in two years. Chart: FRED
• Aging U.S. automobiles, appliances may aid economic recovery Bloomberg
• ISM’s manufacturing index drops below 50, signaling contraction in that sector. Chart: FRED

Household Net Worth

• Q3 U.S. household net worth +$1.7 trillion to $64.8 trillion. Value of real estate owned by households +$370 billion U.S. Federal Reserve

Miscellaneous

• During the Great Recession, about half of those eligible for unemployment benefits collected them. FRED