Weekly Economic Update: May 16 – 20, 2016
LAST WEEK
News & Commentary Weekly Highlights:
- Wall Street Journal: WSJ Survey: Recession Odds Remain Elevated Despite Calmer Financial Markets (Thursday)
- Bloomberg: China and the United States: Tale of Two Giant Economies (Thursday)
- Market Watch: Why This Could Be the Shortest Fed Rate-Hike Cycle in History (Wednesday)
- Wall Street Journal: Six Ways the Recession Inflicted Scars on Millions of Unemployed Americans (Tuesday)
- Market Watch: Two-Faced U.S. Economy Harder to Read (Sunday)
Top Economic Indicator Highlights:
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (March)
- Job openings: 5.757 million
- Hires: 5.292 million
- Separations (quits, layoffs, discharges): 5.045 million
- Noteworthy: Job openings rose significantly in March, the second highest level since late summer of last year. The number of workers who started a job or left a job declined. Among separations, there were 2.980 million quits and 1.671 million layoffs and discharges. JOLTS data for April are scheduled for release at 10am on June 8.
JEC Releases:
THIS WEEK
Upcoming Economic Reports & Releases:
Major Indicators
- Housing Market Index (10am, Monday)
- Consumer Price Index (8:30am, Tuesday)
- Housing Starts and Building Permits (8:30am, Tuesday)
- Industrial Production (9:15am, Tuesday)
- Existing Home Sales (10am, Friday)
- Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (10am, Friday)
Chart of the Week:
The chart above shows nominal gross federal debt and gross domestic product (GDP) per person (essentially divided by the total resident population of all ages). Displaying gross federal debt and gross domestic product in this manner not only accounts for changes in population, but also reduces significantly larger and unwieldy numbers into more comprehensible information. In mid-2012, gross federal debt surpassed GDP per person, with debt now nearly $60,000 per person in the first quarter of 2016. By comparison, GDP per person is just over $56,000.
