economist

"Overall, not as bad as feared," said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

One assumes that the authors of the ALEC-Laffer index, including conservative economist Arthur Laffer himself, held their noses in laying out California’s dismal business environment.

Robert Gardener, Nationwide's chief economist, said there was a "significant jump" in transactions in March, with buyers bringing forward purchases to avoid the additional tax charges.

But other factors are driving the latest round of layoffs, economists say.

But polling around Trump’s decision to launch a global trade war April 2, levying tariffs on “friend and foe alike” that economists warned could send the country into recession, showed widespread disapproval across party lines.