Weekly Economic Update: July 22-26, 2013
Existing home sales fell 1.2% in June to a lower-than-expected annual pace of 5.08 million units. New home sales were up to a higher-than-expected annual pace of 497,000 units in June. Durable orders increased a stronger-than-expected 4.2% in June. Initial jobless claims rose 7,000 to 343,000 for th...
Improving the Measurement of Gross Domestic Product
According to a recent article in the Financial Times these revisions will add roughly $500 billion to U.S. real GDP. While the revisions will add approximately three percent to real GDP, the revised data should not be interpreted as an economic improvement, only a more finely calibrated and accura...
North American Energy – Closing the Growth & Jobs Gap
The revolution in oil and natural gas production technology has shifted the domestic energy supply curve dramatically to the right. Hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling have made large domestic crude oil and natural gas reserves accessible at production costs that are competitive with inter...
Weekly Economic Update: July 15-19, 2013
Retail sales increased a slower-than-expected 0.4% in June. Business inventories rose 0.1% in May. The topline consumer price index rose 0.5% in June while the core rose 0.2%. Industrial production increased 0.3% in June. Housing starts fell 9.9% to a lower-than-expected annualized 0.836 million uni...
Weekly Economic Update: July 8-12, 2013
Consumer credit increased $19.62 billion (0.7%) to $2.84 trillion in May. The U.S. Treasure reported a rare surplus of $116.5 billion in June. The minutes of the June 18-19 FOMC meeting affirmed the decision to retain the fed funds rate at a range of zero to 0.25% and maintain the pace of asset purc...
Weekly Economic Update: July 1-5, 2013
The ISM index rose 1.9 points to a higher-than-expected 50.9 in June. Construction spending increased slightly by 0.5% in May. Auto sales rose 4.6% in June to an annual pace of 15.96 million units. Factory orders rose 2.1% in May. The U.S. trade deficit widened sharply by $4.9 billion (12.2%) to $45...
Private Sector Jobs Gap Remains Large
Employment to Population Ratio Not Improving
New Jobs Numbers: Economy Still Stuck in Low Gear
Weekly Economic Update: June 24-28, 2013
Durable orders increased 3.6% in May. The Case-Shiller home price index was up 1.7% in April. New home sales increased by a greater-than-expected 4.8% in May to an annual pace of 476,000 units. Pending home sales were up 6.7% in May. Real GDP growth for the 1st quarter of 2013 was 1.8%. Personal inc...
