LAST WEEK

News & Commentary Weekly Highlights:

• National Review: On Obamacare, the President Ignores Unpleasant Realities (Friday)
• Politico:  ‘Affordable care’? Not so fast. (Wednesday)
• Investor’s Business Daily: National Debt On Track To Hit 141% of GDP As Outlook Worsens—CBO (Tuesday)
• Forbes: Here’s How Financial And Other Regulators Are Issuing Rules Without Writing Them (Monday)
• Real Clear Markets: 'Good' Jobs Report Confirms Slowing Economy (Monday)

 

Top Economic Indicator Highlights:

Consumer Price Index (June 2016)

• Core inflation rate (excludes food and energy, seasonally adjusted, annual percentage change): June: 2.3%; May: 2.2%; 10-year average: 1.9%
• Inflation rate (all items, seasonally adjusted, annual percentage change): June: 1.0%; May: 1.0%; 10-year average: 1.7%
• Noteworthy: The price indices for gasoline, shelter, medical care, education, airline fares, motor vehicle insurance, and recreation categories increased. The price indices for used cars and trucks, apparel, communication, natural gas, electricity, food, and household furnishings and operations decreased.

Industrial Production (June 2016)

• Annual percentage change: June: -0.7%; May: -1.4%; April: -1.4%
• Noteworthy: This is the 10^th consecutive month the industrial production index was negative.

 

JEC Releases:

• June Labor Review (Monday)
• Coats: CBO Report Warns of Looming Debt Crisis (Tuesday)
• Hearing: Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Growing Business, Not Bureaucracy (Tuesday)
• Tiberi Opening Statement: Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Growing Business, Not Bureaucracy (Tuesday)
• JEC Examines Slowing Business Dynamism (Friday)

 

THIS WEEK

Upcoming Economic Reports & Releases:

Major Indicators

• Business Leaders Survey (8:30am, Mon)
• New Residential Construction (8:30am, Tue)
• Chicago Fed National Activity Index (8:30am, Thu)
• Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey (8:30am, Thu)
• Composite Indexes (10:00am, Thu)
• Existing Home Sales (10:00am, Thu)
• Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (10:00am, Fri)

 

Chart of the Week:

 

 

This chart shows the year-over-year percentage change in the Federal Reserve System’s Industrial Production Index, which measures the real output of the manufacturing, mining, electric, and gas utilities industries in the United States. Historically, this index is highly correlated with real GDP growth. The index has now been negative for 10 consecutive months. The last period of prolonged year-over-year contraction occurred during and through the aftermath of the recession.