Daily Rundown

May 22, 2026

Chart of the Day

Number of the Day

Less than 10 - Walmart indicated that the average fuel customer purchased less than ten gallons per visit in the most recent quarter, the first single-digit average since 2022 in what the company characterized as "an indication of stress"

Quote of the Day

"I'm still in a world where everyone I talk to is talking about AI and AI-related job loss." - Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin

Thursday's Highlights

Initial unemployment claims (week of 5/10) fell by 3,000 to 209,000.

Housing starts (April) fell by 2.8 percent even as the multifamily component was up strongly for a second straight month.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index (May) fell to -0.4 from a prior 26.7, registering its first negative reading in five months.

Walmart same-store sales (February-April) rose by 4.1 percent year-over-year.

Quick Commentary

The renewed surge in multifamily housing starts is another reason to expect that rental inflation will remain tame in the years ahead. Zillow's rent index is currently rising by 1.7 percent year-over-year, close to its slowest pace since late 2020, while Apartment List's measure is contracting by a record 1.7 percent over the same time frame. These trends also strongly suggest that the 0.5 percent spike in the CPI's owners' equivalent rent category in April will prove to be an outlier, and that the series will again be a source of disinflationary pressure going forward.

Today's Highlight

Consumer sentiment

Daily Trivia

What local brand was among the first to sponsor a car in the Indianapolis 500, painting a 1933 entrant red, white, and blue with several balloon-like polka dots across the body?

(Thursday's Question: What Manhattan institution is home to the world's largest depository of gold, most of which is owned by governments and central banks? Answer: The New York Fed)