Category Archives: U.S. Economic News

[06/22/17]  Another slippery slide for crude oil sent the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average into the red, while a biotech rally boosted the Nasdaq. On Wednesday, June 21, the S&P 500 declined 0.05%, and the Dow fell 0.25%. The Nasdaq added 0.75%. The Dow and S&P 500 secured closing records on Monday, June 19. Crude oil prices retreated further into a bear market on Wednesday, after having fallen more than 20% from a late February high. Crude plunged more than 2% on Tuesday, June 20, on worries over global oversupply and ballooning production. Crude fell even after a steeper decline in domestic stockpiles than anticipated. Crude...

[03/01/17]  Major U.S. stock indexes surged in late-afternoon trading Wednesday, on course to set new highs after pushing the Dow Jones industrial average above 21,000 points for the first time. Investor optimism over corporate tax cuts and other policy proposals reiterated by President Trump during a speech before Congress drove the rally. Banks were the biggest gainers amid heightened expectations that an improving economy will lead to higher interest rates. Keeping score: The Dow jumped 327 points, or 1.6 percent, to 21,139 as of 3:36 p.m. Eastern Time. The 30-company average hasn't been up more than 300 points in one day since November. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained...

[02/13/17] A measure of U.S. inflation expectations rose for a second straight month in January to its highest level since mid-2015, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey released on Monday that reinforced the view that interest rates would keep climbing. The survey of consumer expectations, an increasingly influential gauge of prices for the U.S. central bank, found that year-ahead inflation expectations increased to 3.0 percent, from 2.8 percent in December and 2.5 percent in November. The expectation three years out was 2.9 percent, from 2.8 percent the month before. "Both increases were fairly broad-based, but largest among younger and higher-income respondents," the New York...

[11/23/16]  The dollar surged to a more than 13-year peak on Wednesday, bolstered by upbeat U.S. economic data that showed the economy on track for steady growth and reinforced expectations of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve next month and in 2017.

The greenback also posted sharp gains against the yen, rising to a more than seven-month high, and climbed versus the euro to its highest since early December.

A 0.4 percent rebound in U.S. durable goods orders last month after a decline in September as...

[11/23/16]  The Dow and the S&P 500 eked out record high closes on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, helped by gains in industrial stocks, though losses in technology shares limited the advance and weighed on the Nasdaq. Caterpillar (CAT.N) rose 2.7 percent and hit the highest in about two years, while Deere (DE.N) jumped 11 percent to a record high close after the farm equipment maker reported a much smaller-than-expected decline in profit. Industrial stocks also were given a boost by a report that showed a strong jump in orders for durable goods in October due to demand for machinery and other equipment. The industrial index...

[10/18/16]  Consumer prices in the United States recorded their biggest gain in five months in September as the cost of gasoline and rents surged, pointing to a steady buildup of inflation that could keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates in December.

The Labor Department said on Tuesday that its Consumer Price Index increased 0.3 percent last month after rising 0.2 percent in August. In the 12 months through September, the index rose 1.5 percent, the biggest year-on-year increase since October 2014. It rose 1.1 percent in the year to August.

“Today’s inflation data are not...

[09/01/16]  It was a good run while it lasted. But a bigger-than-expected decline in the August auto sales numbers reported on Thursday indicated that the industry’s long and robust growth cycle may have reached its end.

For six years, since the end of the economic recession, automakers have enjoyed a steadily growing market in the United States, as monthly sales routinely surpassed those of the previous year.

On Thursday, though, manufacturers reported that overall sales in August fell about 4 percent compared to a year earlier. The decrease was larger than generally forecast by analysts, who said...

[08/05/16]  The American jobs machine has moved back into high gear. After a long stretch of conflicting reports, the Labor Department said on Friday that the economy in July delivered a second consecutive month of robust hiring and rising wages in a signal that the expansion is strengthening, not ebbing, as it enters its eighth year.

Stocks surged, experts expressed more confidence that the Federal Reserve was likely to raise interest rates before the end of the year, and it was clear that long-stagnant wages for ordinary workers were advancing at a healthier pace.

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[07/07/16]  U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in June as small businesses ramped up hiring, and fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting a rebound in job growth after May's paltry gains. Thursday's reports underscored the economy's strength and supported views that the United States would weather the impact of last month's British referendum to leave the European Union. "The labor market does not seem to be faltering. The apparent willingness of small business owners to bring on new workers is a clear sign that the economy is moving forward solidly," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. The ADP National...

[06/28/16]  Economic growth in the United States slowed in the first quarter but not as sharply as previously estimated, with gains in exports and software investment partly offsetting weak consumer spending.

Gross domestic product increased at a 1.1 percent annual rate, rather than the 0.8 percent pace reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, in its final estimate.

First-quarter G.D.P. growth has been revised higher by 0.6 percentage point since the first estimate was published in April. The economy grew at a rate of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The first-quarter revision was broadly in line with economists’ expectations.

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