Weekly Economic Update: October 16 – October 20, 2017
CHART OF THE WEEK
Pro-Growth Reforms—Why We Need Them.
Many factors can affect the rate of economic growth, and the conditions prevailing during each of the post-war expansions have varied to be sure, but among the 10 significant ones, the current one is clearly the slowest.
Removing artificial obstacles to economic growth is critical and that includes reforming taxes and regulations.
LAST WEEK
News & Commentary Weekly Highlights
Wall Street Journal: Tax Reform Will Give Workers a Raise
Economics21: Yes, US Tax Cuts Will Mainly Benefit Those Who … Pay the Most Taxes
CNBC: Consumer confidence soars to highest level since 2004
U.S. News: Debunking Obama's Fiscal Record
JEC Releases
Fueling Tomorrow’s Digital Trade Boom
Witnesses Tell JEC That Tax Reform Would Encourage More Business Startups, Hiring
Top Economic Indicator Highlights
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) (August 2017)
Category (seasonally adjusted levels) |
August |
July |
June |
Job Openings (thousands) |
6,082 |
6,140 |
6,116 |
Hires (thousands) |
5,430 |
5,521 |
5,432 |
Separations (thousands) |
5,228 |
5,362 |
5,309 |
Noteworthy: The total number of job vacancies recorded remains elevated above 6 million job vacancies. Historically, the number of hires has always exceeded the number of openings. However, since late 2014 this has changed. A JEC hearing held earlier this year explored reasons and remedies for this situation.
Consumer Price Index (September 2017)
Category (percentage change from same month last year) |
September |
August |
July |
Headline CPI |
2.23% |
1.93% |
1.73% |
Core CPI (excludes food and energy) |
1.69% |
1.69% |
1.70% |
Noteworthy: The core CPI inflation rate was unchanged from last month at 1.69%. The headline CPI inflation rate, which includes food and energy, jumped up to 2.23%. This is likely attributable to hurricanes Harvey and Irma which disrupted the production and distribution of petroleum-products.
THIS WEEK
Upcoming Economic Data and Events
Monday
Empire State Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)
Tuesday
Business Leaders Survey (8:30am)
Exports/Imports (8:30am)
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization (9:15am)
Wednesday
New Residential Construction (8:30am)
Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations Survey (10:00am)
Federal Reserve Board of Governors Beige Book (2:00pm)
Thursday
Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)
Composite Indexes (10:00am)
Friday
Existing Home Sales (10:00am)