Weekly Economic Update 02-13-26: Small Business Optimism; Retail Sales; January Employment; Existing Home Sales; and Consumer Price Index

Consumers aren't buying homes or the stuff that goes in them.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Georgia Institute of Technology or the Georgia Board of Regents.

Each week, I try to open with some interesting tidbit from the news or commentary on some interesting economic topic, and based on feedback, many of you find that to be the most interesting part of the Weekly Economic Update. (In fact, I think that is the only part my wife reads…when she reads it at all.)

But, from an economic perspective, this was a slow week. The news cycle was largely hijacked by the Epstein files (which I am happy to report do not contain my name, although it seems just about everyone else was in there), the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, the Winter Olympics, and yet another impending government shutdown.

Oh, yeah…also last Sunday was the Super Bowl. (And before you panic, no, I will not be commenting on either of the competing halftime shows.)

For most of my life, I was a big fan of the NFL. I was deep into fantasy football and spent way too much time building statistical forecasting models to predict player performance. And I was good, taking home several league championships over many years. In fact, I religiously watched the NFL right up until they got political. Then, like many others, I walked away and haven’t looked back.

So, it has been several years since I watched an NFL game. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to name five current players in the NFL. (I assume that Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady are no longer playing.) But when I was a fan, having grown up in Atlanta, I was a HUGE Falcons fan. And as such, until the end of my days, I will loathe the New England Patriots with a hatred hotter than 10,000 suns.