Weekly Economic Update: December 11 – December 15, 2017

December 11, 2017

CHART OF THE WEEK

U.S. Much Less Dependent on Foreign Oil

U.S. Net Imports of Crude Oil & Petroleum Products

Since peaking in August 2006 at 13.4 million barrels per day (b/d), U.S. net imports of crude oil and petroleum products have fallen to 3.4 million b/d as of September 2017. This is the lowest level since February 1985.

According to Bureau of Economic Analysis/Haver Analytics data, in the third quarter of 2006, net imports of petroleum cost $284.8 billion (chained 2009 dollars at seasonally adjusted annual rates). As of the third quarter of 2017, this cost has fallen to $95.1 billion.

LAST WEEK

Top Economic Indicator Highlights

Productivity and Costs (Q3-2017, seasonally adjusted at annualized growth rates, final estimate)

Increasing productivity growth is essential for living standards to improve. Before 2008 nonfarm business labor productivity growth averaged 2.4%; from 2008 to date, it has averaged only 1.2%.

Category	Final estimate	Preliminary estimate
Q3-2017 Nonfarm Business Labor Productivity	3.0%	3.0%

Q3 2017 Nonfarm Business Labor Productivity

Noteworthy: Nonfarm business labor productivity remained 3.0% after additional data was incorporated into its estimation. This is the first time since the third quarter of 2014 it was 3% or higher.

Employment Situation (November 2017)

Category	November	October	September
Nonfarm payroll jobs (thousands)	228	244	38
Headline unemployment rate (U-3)	4.1%	4.1%	4.2%
“True” unemployment rate (U-6)	8.0%	7.9%	8.3%