Category Archives: U.S. Economic News

[09/09/15]  U.S. job openings surged to a record high in July and employers appeared to have trouble filling openings, the latest signal of an increasingly tight labor market that could push the Federal Reserve closer to raising interest rates.

The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, is one of the job market metrics on Fed Chair Janet Yellen's so-called dashboard. It was published ahead of the U.S. central bank's Sept. 16-17 policy meeting.

Despite the tightening labor market and a strong rebound in economic growth, the probability of a rate hike at...

[09/01/15]  A key report Tuesday dampened hopes that U.S. manufacturing will serve as a growth engine in the second half of the year as a strong dollar and low oil prices continue to hamper production. Instead, manufacturers are bracing for more troubles in the fourth quarter amid China’s economic weakness and global market turmoil. “When there’s doubt among consumers and investors, it means (businesses) are not going out and doing projects,” says Gregory Jenkins, owner of Flinchbaugh, a 30-employee steel parts maker in Manchester, Pa. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of manufacturing activity fell to a two-year low in August, slipping to 51.1% from 52.7% the...

[08/12/15]  The United States government ran a much higher budget deficit in July than a year ago, but it is still on track for the lowest full-year deficit in eight years.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the July deficit totaled $149.2 billion, compared with a deficit of $94.6 billion a year earlier. The deterioration stemmed mainly from the fact that Aug. 1 fell on a Saturday. As a result, the government paid out $42 billion in August benefits in late July instead.

Through the first 10 months of this budget year, the deficit stood...

[08/11/15]  American workers’ productivity rebounded in the second quarter, but a weak underlying trend suggested that inflation could pick up more quickly than economists have anticipated.

Nonfarm productivity increased at a 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-to-June period, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. But productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rose only 0.3 percent from a year ago.

In line with annual revisions to gross domestic product, first-quarter productivity was revised to show a 1.1 percent rate of decline instead of the previously reported 3.1 percent pace of decline.

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[08/07/15]  The American economy delivered pretty much what was expected last month in terms of hiring, giving the Federal Reserve one more piece of evidence that conditions are strong enough to support an increase in the interest rate.

The pace of employment growth was steady, if not spectacular; the economy added 215,000 jobs in July. While not as robust as the gains recorded in May and June, Friday’s Labor Department report came in within 10,000 jobs of what forecasters had predicted, a notable feat of consistency in an economy that employs nearly 150 million people.

The unemployment...

[06/18/15]  Consumer prices in the United States rose in May at the fastest clip in over two years, as gasoline prices surged, suggesting the impact of lower oil prices on inflation probably is fading.

Other data on Thursday showed the economy gaining speed after stumbling in the first quarter. New applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to a near 15-year low and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region accelerated to a six-month high in June.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent last month after gaining 0.1 percent in April, the Labor Department said....

[06/15/15]  Builders are exuding more confidence in the real estate market as more buyers purchase homes with unwavering certainty. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in June reached a high of 59. This is an increase of five points from last month and the highest reading this year since September 2014. “Builders are reporting more serious and committed buyers at their job sites and this is reflected in recent government data showing that new-home sales and single-family construction are gaining momentum,” said Tom Woods, NAHB chairman and a home builder from Blue...

[06/15/15]  U.S. factory output slipped in May, hurt by a decline in oil refining that overshadowed solid gains by automakers. The Federal Reserve said Monday that manufacturing output declined 0.2 percent last month, as productivity has basically been flat since January. Manufacturing has been hurt by the stronger dollar, higher oil prices reducing equipment orders and activity at refiners, and previously by cold winter weather at the start of the year. "Manufacturers will continue to struggle with the impact of the dollar's rise for some time yet," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. Overall industrial production ??? which also includes utilities and mining ??? fell 0.2 percent in May. Mining...

[05/26/15]  Consumer confidence rebounded slightly this month as the job market showed signs of improvement. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 95.4 in May from 94.3 in April. Last month's reading had been sharp drop from March's 101.4. A year ago, the index stood at 82.2. Consumers' assessment of current economic conditions improved, but their outlook for the next six months slipped. Their expectations for the job market improved, however. Consumers were more likely this month to say they planned to buy a car, home or major appliance within the next six months. Employers added a healthy 223,000 jobs last month, up from a lackluster 85,000 in...

[05/11/15]  Job growth last month shifted to higher-paying positions in a sign of a broadening labor market recovery. Professional and business services, construction and health care led the solid 223,000 job gains reported by the Labor Department on Friday. Retail and leisure and hospitality lagged. Both have been engines of payroll gains through most of the U.S. employment upswing since 2010. "We're seeing more quality jobs," says Diane Swonk, chief economist of Mesirow Financial. The trend, she says, partly reflects a widening recovery that includes a pickup in full-time positions.