Presents on Time for Christmas, Gas Prices Falling, U.S. Economy Massively Outperforming Rest of the World
From the Speaker's Press Office:
President Biden and House Democrats are delivering durable economic growth with historic investments in infrastructure, a stronger supply chain, and American workers. Now, ahead of the holiday season, families are seeing presents arrive on time, gas prices beginning to fall, and a strong outlook for more durable economic growth for the United States even as other countries struggle to find their footing.
Here are the top stories about welcome economic news this holiday:
New York Times: Why Christmas Gifts Are Arriving on Time This Year
"Fears that a disrupted supply chain could wreak havoc on the logistics industry over the holiday turned out to be wrong"
…
"The UPS and the Postal Service delivered about 99 percent of their packages on time by that measure between Nov. 14 and Dec. 11, and FedEx was close behind at 97 percent, according to ShipMatrix."
…
"But at least when it comes to items that are in stock, delivery companies have given consumers little to complain about. By some measures, in fact, they have done a better job this holiday season than even before the pandemic. In the two full weeks after Thanksgiving, it took about four days from the moment a package was ordered online for it to be delivered by FedEx, according to data from NielsenIQ, which tracks online transactions from millions of online shoppers in the United States. That compares with about 4.6 days for UPS and more than five days for the Postal Service.
"For UPS and FedEx, those figures are an improvement of about 40 percent from a similar post-Thanksgiving period in 2019, according to NielsenIQ. For the Postal Service, it was a 26 percent improvement.
"The achievement is all the more notable given that Americans are on track to spend more this holiday season than the one before — up to 11.5 percent over 2020, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group."
Fox News: USPS does not expect any delays as shipping deadline approaches
"The company says no shipping delays are expected for people shipping items in the last few days leading up to Christmas."
Reuters: U.S. gasoline prices fall a little or a lot, depending where you are
"In Michigan and Indiana, the average retail price is now down more than 25 cents. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Michigan is currently $3.152, down 23 cents from a month ago.
"‘Seeing how some stations posted prices 60 cents lower while others only fell about 15 cents, you can tell there was some profit taking,' said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum fuel analysis at GasBuddy, speaking about prices in Michigan, his home state."
…
"Crude prices are still up about 50% from last year as demand has rebounded while supply has been slower to return to the market. Since peaking at about $86 per barrel, the Brent crude benchmark has dropped to about $73 a barrel - a 15% decline.
"That's due to the U.S. release of strategic reserves to cool prices"
Wall Street Journal: Booming U.S. Economy Ripples World-Wide
"The force of the American expansion is also inducing overseas companies to invest in the U.S., betting that the growth is still accelerating and will outpace other major economies.
"U.S. consumers, flush with trillions of dollars of fiscal stimulus, are snapping up manufactured goods"
…
"Major U.S. ports are processing almost one-fifth more container volume this year than they did in 2019, even as volumes at major European ports like Hamburg and Rotterdam are roughly flat or lag behind 2019 levels. The busiest U.S. container ports are leaping ahead of their counterparts in Asia and Europe in global rankings as volumes surge, according to shipping data provider Alphaliner."
…
"The U.S. economy will likely grow by around 6% in 2021 and 4% or more in 2022, the highest rates for decades, analysts say. Strong U.S. growth momentum is expected to push the unemployment rate to the lowest level in almost seven decades by 2023, according to Deutsche Bank analysts.
"U.S. economic output is likely to surpass its pre-pandemic path early next year, while output in China and emerging markets will remain about 2% below that path through 2023, according to JPMorgan Chase.
"U.S. wages are growing by about 4% a year, above the precrisis trend rate, compared with less than 1% growth in the eurozone, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements, a Switzerland-based bank for central banks."
Bloomberg: U.S. Consumer Confidence Rose in December, Defying Omicron Fears
"U.S. consumer confidence rose in December by more than expected as Americans' outlook for employment and the economy improved, suggesting some resilience in the recovery despite growing concerns about the omicron variant and elevated prices."