Weekly Economic Update: February 20 - February 23, 2018
CHART OF THE WEEK
The Trump OMB Growth Projections Are Reasonable
Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration are adopting tax and regulatory policies to recover U.S. economic potential rather than constrain it. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projects real GDP to reach a level by 2028 consistent with what the Obama Administration had projected just five years ago, as it continued to revise down its expectations.
LAST WEEK
News & Commentary Weekly Highlights
Cato: Could CBO Be Underestimating GDP Growth by 1%? They’ve Done It Before
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Home Construction Rose 9.7% in January
Tax Foundation: Introducing the Tax Foundation’s 2018 Tax Reform Calculator
Financial Times: A former Fed insider explains the internal debate over QE3
OMB Release
Top Economic Indicator Highlights
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization (January 2018)
The Fed’s industrial production index covers nearly everything tangible produced in the United States.
Category |
Jan |
Dec |
Nov |
Industrial production (year-over-year percentage change) |
3.6% |
3.4% |
3.9% |
Capacity utilization (percent of capacity in active use) |
77.5% |
77.7% |
77.5% |
Noteworthy: For the first month of 2018, industrial production registered another strong gain from the same month of last year.
Consumer Price Index (January 2018)
Category (percentage change from same month last year) |
Jan |
Dec |
Nov |
Headline CPI |
2.14% |
2.11% |
2.20% |
Core CPI (excludes food and energy) |
1.85% |
1.76% |
1.71% |
Noteworthy: After slowing early-to-mid 2017, core CPI resumed an upward trend in recent months.
THIS WEEK
Upcoming Economic Data
Monday
No releases
Tuesday
No releases
Wednesday
PMI Composite Flash (9:45am)
Existing Home Sales (10:00am)
Federal Reserve FOMC Meeting Minutes (2:00pm)
Thursday
Jobless Claims (8:30am)
Leading Indicators (10:00am)
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index (10:00am)
Federal Reserve Balance Sheet (4:30pm)
Money Supply (4:30pm)
Friday
No releases