Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Biden Nominates Supreme Court Justice, Consumer Spending Rises, Stocks Close Week With Surge

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce:

February 28, 2022

Biden Nominates Supreme Court Justice

President Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the spot of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve on the country’s top court, fulfilling a campaign pledge Biden made during the Democratic presidential primaries two years ago.

That pledge helped him with Black voters in South Carolina, giving him a major victory in the primaries that turned around his campaign.

Jackson currently serves as judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Congress confirmed her last June. She filled the spot left open when Merrick Garland was named U.S. attorney general.

The Democrat-controlled Senate confirmed her with a 53-44 vote, with three Republicans, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, crossing over to vote for her.

Consumer Spending Rises

Consumer spending rose sharply in January, an indicator that builds on the strong retail sales reported for the same month. But inflation also accelerated to the fastest annual pace in four decades.

The Commerce Department reported that personal consumption increased 2.1% compared to a drop of 0.8% in December. Two weeks ago, the Commerce Department reported retail sales increased 3.8% in January.

The price index climbed to 6.1% from a year ago. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the increase was 5.2%.

Consumer confidence reports, however, have shown optimism is waning. The University of Michigan’s monthly survey, a closely watched barometer, reported Friday that its final sentiment index reading for February was at 62.8, down from January’s 67.2 and far below February 2021’s 76.8.

The upside is that the index’s final number was better than the survey’s initial 61.7.

Still, Richard Curtin, chief economist for the university’s survey, said in a statement that the number is the worst in a decade, citing falling confidence in the government’s economic policies and the most negative long-term prospects for the economy in the past decade.

Stocks Close Week With Surge

While Russian missiles were falling on Ukraine, the U.S. major stock indices surged on Friday to extend the previous day’s small gains and close out a volatile week shortened by a holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 834.92 points for a 2.5% gain, marking its best single-day increase since November 2020. Friday’s gains, however, weren’t enough to secure a winning week for the Dow, which now has recorded its third consecutive week of losses.

U.S. real estate stocks were lifted on Friday as well. The Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index, which tracks real estate investment trusts and firms indirectly involved with real estate, closed 2.36% higher to 403.41.

A rise in the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 on Friday also helped both recover losses over the previous day as investors weighed the implications of Russia invading Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion sent the major indices down sharply Thursday morning, though all rebounded during the day. Oil prices rose some on Thursday but dropped back on Friday with West Texas crude dropping to 91.94 and the global benchmark declining to 98.57.

Source: www.CoStar.com

This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.