patrick.net

A quick check-up on quality-of-living, in a handful of headlines and charts. First, inflation is falling fast. So fast that it threatens an “overheated” economy. Yesterday’s inflation chart from Truflation showed improvements in the key affordability areas of housing, food, and household items:




Meanwhile, auto prices didn’t just benefit from reduced inflation. Auto prices are actually falling. At the same time —and paradoxically— autoworker wages are going up. You would think automakers stressed by lower prices would be cutting workers’ wages, not increasing them.




U.S. corporate media’s economic headlines are relentlessly stingy; we must travel to international media to find the good economic news. Consider this headline from India’s International Business Times, Thursday:

US Economy 'Rocketing'; Factories Running 24/7: Trump
Says Manufacturing Boom, Robotics Are Reshaping Jobs
President Donald Trump highlighted a surge in US manufacturing, citing expanded production at major auto plants
as evidence of economic strength. He defended rolling back electric vehicle mandates, emphasising consumer
choice, and noted that labor shortages in manufacturing signal a vibrant economy.

In a CBS interview at a Ford plant this week, President Trump announced that the automaker has started running its production around the clock, twenty-four hours a day. That’s in spite of lower auto prices. And it’s not just Ford. “This is a Ford plant, but GM’s the same, Stellantis is the same,” the President told reporters.

“They’re enlarging every plant in this country,” President Trump said. “We’re building more plants in the country than we’ve ever built.” (Hilariously, he also said layoffs in the federal workforce were helping push those workers into higher-paying private sector jobs. “Those workers are being retrained to go into the private sector at a much higher salary,” the President quipped.)

Remember how European automakers are closing their carmaking plants? It’s quite a difference, isn’t it? I wonder what could account for it.

The article reported on a study published last week, on January 8, in the journal Science. Experts from the University of Maryland, University of Chicago, and Stanford University concluded that opioid death declines were driven by a major disruption in the global supply of illicit fentanyl. Somebody remind me: who’s been harping on fentanyl supplies since he was inaugurated last year?

Unemployment Claims Plunge Unexpectedly to Historic Low

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, underscoring strong job security as 2026 gets underway and reinforcing signs of a stable labor market under President Donald Trump’s second-term economic agenda.

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that 198,000 Americans filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits.

That figure is not only well below expectations but also historically rare, having occurred in just six weeks since the pandemic in 2020.

Looking further back, data dating to 1967 show that initial jobless claims have been this low or lower only about 2.5 percent of the time.

One year ago today, President Donald J. Trump returned to office with a resounding mandate to restore prosperity, secure the border, rebuild American strength, and put the American people first. In just 365 days, President Trump has delivered truly transformative results with the most accomplished first year of any presidential term in modern history.

From negative net migration for the first time in 50 years to the largest homicide drop on record, trillions in reshored investments, peace deals ending multiple wars, record energy production, and massive bureaucracy cuts, President Trump has put America First with urgency — and he’s just getting started.

Achieved negative net migration in 2025, reversing a 50-year trend and restoring U.S. control over immigration flows for the first time in a generation.
Removed more than 2.6 million illegal aliens from the United States through deportations and voluntary self-departures.
Carried out over 650,000 arrests, detentions, and deportations of illegal aliens — including the worst of the worst criminal illegal alien killers, rapists, gang members, and repeat offenders.
Deported more than 400,000 illegal aliens charged with or convicted of crimes.
Induced two million self-deportations by ending Biden-era release incentives and restoring credible consequences ...