The pandemic era has seen wild swings in US personal savings, with the rate hitting its lowest in over a decade in April. The accumulated savings during the pandemic have allowed consumption to remain strong, even as income growth has faltered. Most recently, there has been a…
Flexport has been tracking and forecasting U.S. consumers’ heightened preference for goods over services throughout the pandemic. Our indicator was designed to signal when there were signs of consumer behavior returning to pre-Covid norms. That signal just went off.
Recent weeks have seen the dollar strengthen significantly against major currencies. That’s a natural result of more aggressive monetary tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve. But the effect is to make U.S. imports look cheaper while exports look more expensive.
While Chinese imports have looked reasonably healthy in dollar terms, volume declines tell a different story. The diminished demand for key inputs, when coupled with Covid lockdown challenges and new official policy pronouncements, portend challenging economic times ahead.
We knew the Fed was going to tighten, but this week brought market-shaking news about how and how fast. It will be a rarely-tried balancing act between hiking the policy rate and selling off assets. Also this week we dig into the state of trucking and the latest sanctions…
Flexport’s Weekly Economic Report provides insights into key issues affecting global supply chains, international trade and the economy more broadly. This week we delve into the Fed’s latest rate decision, observe continued trade price inflation, consider the prospects for EU…
The COVID-19 lockdown in Shenzhen may have a significant impact on the consumer electronics industry, with few alternatives to adapt in the near term.
A recent State of Trade webinar looked at key aspects of the Biden administration's trade policies and how they compare to those of President Trump.