Weekly Economic Update: August 22-26, 2011
Overview: GDP growth for the 2nd quarter was revised downward to 1.0%. Durable orders rose 4.0% in July. New home sales edged down 0.7% in July. CBO released its revised budget outlook, including a 2011 deficit of $1.3 trillion. Initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to a level of 417,000 for the wee...
GDP Revised Downward; Consumer Sentiment Up Slightly; No Major Announcment from Bernanke
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released it second estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2011. BEA estimates that during the second quarter of 2011 real GDP increased an annual rate of 1.0%. This represents a downward revision of its first estimate of 1.3% releas...
Weekly Economic Update: August 15-19, 2011
Overview: Industrial production increased 0.9% in July. Existing home sales fell 3.5% in July as housing starts declined 1.5% and building permits fell 3.2%. The topline PPI rose 0.2% while the core PPI rose 0.4%. The topline CPI increased 0.5% while the core CPI rose 0.2%. Initial jobless clai...
Weekly Economic Updates, August 1-5 and August 8-12
Overview: The economy added 117,000 jobs in July as the unemployment rate ticked down to 9.1%. The FOMC held constant its target range of 0.0%-0.25% for the federal funds rate. Productivity for the 2nd quarter was revised down to a decline of 0.3%. The ISM index fell 4.4 points to 50.9 in July a...
Turmoil in Financial Markets
Many commentators attributed the large decline in U.S. stock prices on Monday August 8, 2011 to the decision of Standard and Poor’s (S&P) to downgrade the credit rating of the U.S. government from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook on Friday August 5, 2011, two other factors probably played a much l...
Weekly Economic Update: July 25-29, 2011
Overview: GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.3% in the 2nd quarter of 2011. New home sales declined 1.0% in June. Durable orders fell 2.1% in June. Initial jobless claims fell 24,000 to a level of 398,000 for the week ended 7/23.
Advance Estimate Shows GDP Grew at a Real, Annualized Rate of 1.3% in the 2nd Quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its advance estimate of growth in the inflation-adjusted (“real”) gross domestic product (GDP) for the 2nd quarter of 2011 (View Report here). According to the advance estimate, annualized GDP growth in the 2nd quarter was 1.3%. The Blue Chip Conse...
Weekly Economic Update: July 18-22, 2011
Overview: Housing starts surged 14.5% in June while building permits increased 2.5% and new home sales fell 0.8%. Initial jobless claims increased 10,000 to a level of 418,000 for the week ended 7/16. * Housing starts surged 14.5% in June to an annual pace of 629,000 units as building permit...
Weekly Economic Update: July 11-15, 2011
Overview: The U.S. trade deficit widened 15.1% to $50.2 billion in May. Industrial production was up 0.2% in June. Retail sales edged up 0.1% in June. The topline CPI fell 0.2%; the core CPI rose 0.3%. The topline PPI fell 0.4%; the core PPI rose 0.3%. The U.S. Treasury reported a deficit of $...
Weekly Economic Update: July 4-8, 2011
Overview: The economy added 18,000 jobs in June as the unemployment rate edged up to 9.2%. The ISM services index fell 1.3 points to 53.3 in June. Consumer credit increased $5.1 billion to $2.43 trillion in May. Factory orders were up 0.8% in May. Initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to a level of...
