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August’s durable goods and new home sales

There were just two widely watched economic reports released last week: the August advance report on durable goods and the August report on new home sales , both from the Census bureau…meanwhile, the week also saw the release of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) for August , a weighted composite index of 85 different economic metrics, which fell to to –0.04 in August from +0.08 in July, after the July index was revised up from –0.08 to +0.08; that left the more often cited 3 month moving average of the index at +0.01 in August, up from a revised –0.01 in July, with those figures for both months so close to zero that both would indicate that national economic activity has been near the historical trend over the summer months.. The week also saw the release of two more regional Fed manufacturing surveys for September: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey , covering western Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and northern New Mexico, reported its bro...
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August’s retail sales, industrial production, and new housing construction; July’s business inventories

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Widely watched economic reports released last week included the Retail Sales Report for August and the Business Sales and Inventories report for July , both from the Census bureau, the August Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report from the Fed, and the August report on New Residential Construction , also from the Census bureau.…in addition, on Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report for August , a report which breaks down the two employment surveys from the monthly national jobs report by state and by region….while the text of that report provides a useful summary of this data, the serious statistics aggregation can be found in the tables linked at the end of the report, where one can find the civilian labor force data and the change in payrolls by industry for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands… This week also saw the release of the first two regional Fed...
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August’s consumer and producer prices and existing home sales; July’s wholesale trade

Major reports released last week included the August Consumer Price Index and the August Producer Price Index , both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories report for July from the Census Bureau, and the Existing Home Sales Report for August from the National Association of Realtors……this week also saw the Consumer Credit Report for July from the Fed, which indicated that overall consumer credit, a measure of non-real estate debt, expanded by a seasonally adjusted $20.1 billion in July, or at a 4.2% annual rate, as non-revolving credit expanded at a 4.8% rate to $3,829.0 billion, while revolving credit outstanding grew at a 2.5% rate to $1,357.2 billion… CPI Rose 0.4% in August on Higher Prices for Fuel, Housing, and Phone Service The consumer price index was 0.4% higher in August, as higher prices for fuel, rent, new and used cars and trucks, car and truck rentals, vehicle maintenance and repairs, motor oil, air fares, lodging away from hom...
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August jobs report; July’s trade deficit, construction spending, factory inventories, and JOLTS, et al

Major reports released last week included the Employment Situation Summary for August and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for July , both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and three July reports that provide us with preliminary input data to 3rd quarter GDP, and also suggest revisions to 2nd quarter GDP: the July report on our International Trade from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the July report on Construction Spending (pdf), and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for July , both from the Census Bureau… The week’s major privately issued reports included the ADP Employment Report for August , wherein the national payroll processor reported a 38,000 increase in private jobs in August, the light vehicle sales report for August from Omida, aka Wards Automotive , which estimated that vehicles sold at a 16.8 million annual rate in August, up from the 16.3 million annual sales rate reported in July, and up from the 16.5...
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