The latest jobs report–published August 5–showed that the United States added over half a million new jobs in the month of July. Are we on the brink of an Un-Recession?

Unemployment is at or a near a 50-year low. Both points add credence to a growing number of economists who are pushing back against the claim that the US economy is official in a recession, despite recording negative economic growth two quarters in a row (the textbook definition of a recession).

Confused?

You’re not the only one. The economy is contracting, albeit not by much, but consumer spending is near an all-time high. Unemployment is an all-time low. Manufacturing employment is up. The finance sector, less so. And yet inflation remains a persistent bugbear. What is clear, however, is that the old rules about how our economy works no longer apply.

And finally, a small programming note: I’m spending the next month hiking and backpacking throughout the portions of the American West. We’ll pick up with more content and more regular dispatches the first week of September.

Having difficulty keeping up with the chaotic and quickly-changing landscape of Russia sanctions and commodities markets or inflation?

We have been offering a series of in-depth presentations on various industries.

So far, we’ve tackled the challenges facing energy, agriculture, industrial materials and inflation.