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Retail sales, housing suggest consumers resilient

This week, the focus shifts to the consumer, with March retail sales and the National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales report. Both reports are likely to point to a modest pickup from February. For retail sales, part of the gain may reflect firmer prices and support from tax refunds. But the bigger question is whether real, inflation-adjusted spending is holding up. The consumer still looks resilient, though more selective and cautious than a year ago. On housing, there is less need to wait for the NAR report because Zillow already provides a timelier read on contract ...

FBI director, senator team up to fight fentanyl in Pennsylvania

FBI Director Kash Patel joined a roundtable hosted by Sen. David McCormick (R-Pa.) earlier this month to discuss the work the Trump administration, Congress, local law enforcement and area prosecutors have done to curb the fentanyl trade in Pennsylvania over the past 13 months. McCormick led the packed event at the Edward N. Chan Federal Building and said that while the state’s death rate due to fentanyl overdoses has significantly decreased over the past year and a half, there was still work to be done. The senator said that fentanyl killed 4,000 Pennsylvanians per year between 2020 ...

When Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Pennsylvania would join a multistate lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, he no doubt expected applause. What he should expect instead are questions. For starters, how does suing the federal government actually lower electricity bills for Pennsylvanians? The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t. Oil gains 3% as fragile ceasefire, Hormuz keep supply risks elevated And the governor’s timing couldn’t be worse or more tone deaf. While Pennsylvania families are struggling under the weight of higher energy costs, the governor’s ...

Population shifts — voting with feet

The latest Census migration data tell a clear and consistent story: people are voting with their feet. In King County, Washington’s largest population center and economic hub, domestic migration has been negative for years. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the county lost 12,501 residents to other parts of the United States. The following year, another 9,079 left. Since 2020, the cumulative loss has reached more than 95,000 people. This is not a one-year anomaly. It is a sustained pattern. At the same time, Idaho’s largest counties are experiencing the opposite trend. Ada County, ...

State’s natural gas spurs climate progress

This Earth Day, it’s important to recognize the advancements in energy that are contributing to a cleaner environment. Consider this: carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S. are down while electricity demand has increased since 2019. Across the PJM Interconnection, with includes Pennsylvania, 12 other states and the District of Columbia, power sector emissions have declined by roughly 50% since 2005 – driven largely by the transition to natural gas-fired power. This is real climate progress made possible by natural gas. Across shale-rich Pennsylvania and Appalachia, ...

Economic development 101: The Williamsport Lumber Yards

Economic development is truly the process by which communities are transformed. Nowhere is this more evident than in Williamsport’s Lumber Yards project, set to host its first tournament this coming weekend. The facility features six lighted synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and girls’ and women’s softball, a convertible collegiate-size field, concessions and a hospitality hub. The story of the Lumber Yards begins with the acquisition of the former Susquehanna Supply site, a neglected brownfield that the Lycoming County Visitors Bureau and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber ...