Here are the facts:

Here are the facts:

The US economy has now added more than a million net new jobs over the last three months. This was the best 90 days’ worth of hiring since 1997.

More jobs were created in 2014 than during any year since 1999.

759,000 people just joined the labor force and there was no post-holiday seasonal decline – it may be that temporary workers are sticking.

Average hourly wages rose .5% in January.

The cost of living has only risen .8% over the last year while wage growth has outstripped it, rising by 2.2%.

21 of 50 states put through minimum wage hikes, including populous ones like NY, FL and NJ.

US energy consumers have received a cumulative $14 billion tax cut (and counting) as a result of the oil price decline since June.

Consumer confidence just smashed through the highest level since August 2007. Consumers are saying their “present condition” is the best it’s been since January 2008.

Auto sales rose 14% in January 2015 versus 2014, with 1.15 million vehicles sold in the US. Auto sales are now on an annualized pace of 16.6 million vehicles, the highest rate since 2006.

In December, commercial loan demand grew for the first time since June. Consumer loan applications and approvals are also expanding with dirt-cheap borrowing costs at levels that were previously unimaginable.

Single-family housing starts jumped 7.2% in December to an annual pace of 728,000. This is the best level for new home groundbreaking since March 2008. There’s more on the way – single-family home building permits rose 4.5% to their highest level since January 2008.

20% of consumers report that “jobs are plentiful” versus just 25% who say that jobs are hard to find. The differential between the two was cut in half between December and January, from -10 to -5, and shrinking.

96% of Americans with 401(k) accounts are actively participating and the average savings rate is 12% of salary (Fidelity). Among employees contributing to a 401(k) for ten years or more, the average balance is $248,000, up 11% from the end of 2013. The average balance across all 401(k) accounts is now over $100,000 and it has doubled since the end of 2008 (Vanguard).

US household net worth hit $81.5 trillion. This includes all stocks, bonds, properties and business values, minus any debts or liabilities. This is a new all-time record.

You’re welcome to attach any caveats to this data that you’d like to. You can qualify some or all of it. You can speculate on when any of these trends may end or whether the data comes from trustworthy sources. You can point out the various ways in which any or all of these data points are “not telling the real story” or you can dismiss the meaning of the numbers themselves when compared with A, B or C.

That’s up to you. But these are the facts.

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. خرید طلا commented on Feb 14

    خرید طلا

    Great blog! I identified it whilst browsing on Yahoo Information. Do you have any suggestions on how to get shown in Yahoo News? I have been attempting for a while but I by no means seem to get there! Thank you

  2. خرید دوربین مدار بسته commented on Feb 14

    خرید دوربین مدار بسته

    Great weblog! Is your concept custom made manufactured or did you download it from someplace? A design and style like yours with a couple of basic adjustements would genuinely make my blog stand out. Please permit me know where you got your design and…

  3. سیستم cctv commented on Feb 14

    سیستم حفاظتی

    Below are several of the web web sites we advise for our guests

  4. خرید vpn commented on Feb 14

    vpn ایفون

    Many thanks once more for the weblog post.Truly thank you! Great.

  5. online surveys that pay commented on Feb 14

    online surveys that pay

    […]we like to honor numerous other world-wide-web web-sites on the internet, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  6. خرید فیلتر شکن commented on Feb 15

    vpn ایفون

    With regard to ergonomics and the innovative technilogy Heuer replica watches have been the amazing samples of athletics watches.

  7. paid work abroad commented on Feb 15

    paid work abroad

    […]Every the moment inside a even though we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the newest web pages that we choose […]

  8. قالب جوملا رایگان commented on Feb 15

    جوملا

    we came across a cool web site that you just could perhaps delight in. Consider a seem in situation you want

  9. buy 100% pure kona coffee beans online commented on Feb 16

    buy 100% pure kona coffee beans online

    […]that will be the finish of this article. Right here you will find some websites that we consider you will value, just click the hyperlinks over[…]

  10. gratis inserate commented on Feb 16

    gratis inserate

    […]Every once inside a although we opt for blogs that we study. Listed beneath would be the latest web-sites that we choose […]

  11. خرید vpn commented on Feb 16

    vpn ایفون

    When I at first commented I clicked the “Notify me when new feedback are added” checkbox and now every time a remark is additional I get a few emails with the exact same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that provider? Thank you!

  12. prostate vibrator commented on Feb 16

    prostate vibrator

    […]we like to honor lots of other internet websites on the internet, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  13. playing with tits commented on Feb 16

    playing with tits

    […]although internet websites we backlink to beneath are considerably not associated to ours, we really feel they are in fact really worth a go by, so have a look[…]

  14. خرید دوربین مدار بسته commented on Feb 18

    خرید دوربین مدار بسته

    Hey! I know this is considerably off subject matter but I was asking yourself if you knew exactly where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment sort? I’m using the exact same site platform as yours and I’m obtaining problems discovering a single? T…

  15. خرید اپل آیدی commented on Feb 19

    خرید دوربین مدار بسته

    even though sites we backlink to underneath are substantially not relevant to ours, we truly feel they are truly genuinely really worth a go through, so have a seem