Heather Long
@byHeatherLong
Chief economist @NavyFederal | Columnist @washingtonpost | Data aficionado | Views my own | Email: [email protected]
The past week was one of the most joyous – and scary – of my life. (a 🧵) I gave birth to my daughter and my heart grew several sizes. Then the “silent killer” after childbirth hit me and I nearly died.
Cities should look at Cleveland for revival inspiration. Cleveland was early on the trend to covert old offices and warehouses into apartments. Cleveland also worked hard to add more green spaces and "third spaces" for people to linger and gather. The key is getting people to…
Downtowns in cities like Indianapolis are really depressing— vast, and mostly empty, with less activity than near the outer ring malls & shopping plazas. Municipal business (courts, government offices) are primary draw, and they close at night. There are a few larger private…
YouTube now owns 12.5% of all U.S. TV viewing time - more than any other distributor. 1B+ hours are watched daily on YouTube, surpassing Disney across broadcast, cable, and streaming. No studios. No soundstages. No scripts. Just total living room dominance. $GOOGL
Today at noon: breaking down the latest numbers on inflation, jobs, housing & more with Heather Long & Patrick Harker. Join @Avi_WA & @cherrigregg LIVE at 12pm: shorturl.at/MqCL1
This is what I hear when I travel the country. Americans want more focus on high prices. New CBS News poll finds 70% do not think there is enough focus on lowering prices. It’s hard to capture exactly what people are frustrated about in a poll like this, but housing costs, food…
We’re about to hit 3 years of 6.5% <---> 7.5% mortgage rate purgatory Sure, the average 30-year fixed has had a couple of brief breaks from it, but we keep getting sucked back in
The US desperately needs a home construction boom. But it's not happening. New homes completed plunged in June to the lowest level since January 2022. Building permits and housing starts are also at some of the lowest levels since the pandemic. Yes, zoning rule changes would…
A large cloud-to-ground lightning flash spans the sky over D.C. last night. @capitalweather
Best night of the summer at Wolftrap Outdoor Theatre! National Symphony Orchestra playing John Williams’ masterful score for The Empire Strikes Back #MayTheMUSICBeWithYou
Don't count the US consumer out yet. Pretty incredible bounce back in retail sales in June that beat expectations. Even auto sales (see the light gray bar) had a strong comeback in June. "Total sales for the April 2025 through June 2025 period were up 4.1% from the same period…
Sign of the (tariff) times? The car dealership where I bought my car 4 years ago keeps texting me urging me to sell my vehicle to them… The race is on to stock up on USED vehicles.
Important point: Wages adjusted for inflation (aka "real wages") decreased in June. One month does not make a trend. And wages are still growing faster than inflation over the past year (albeit more slowly). But this is the impact rising inflation has. It eats away at middle…
But drilling down a bit, it sure likes there's evidence of tariffs showing through, especially in "household furnishings," a broad category that includes things like appliances and furniture.
JUST IN: Tariffs are starting to raise prices. U.S. inflation rose 0.3% in June. The annual rate climbed to 2.7%. That’s up from 2.3 % in April and 2.4% in May. Food, energy and rent all playing a big role in the increase in June. Core inflation (which excludes food and…
