Posts

1st Quarter GDP Revision, May’s Personal Income and Outlays, Durable Goods, and New Home Sales

The key economic releases last week were the 3rd estimate of 1st quarter GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the May report on Personal Income and Spending , also from the BEA, which includes two months of 2nd quarter data on personal consumption expenditures and hence accounts for 47% of 2nd quarter GDP….the week’s other widely watched releases included the May advance report on durable goods , and the May report on new home sales , both from the Census bureau….in addition, this week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary for May , which breaks down the two employment surveys from the monthly national jobs report by state and region….while the text of that report provides a useful summary of this data, the serious statistical 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 Di...

May’s retail sales, industrial production, and new home construction; April’s business inventories

Image
Widely watched reports released last week included the Retail Sales report for May and its companion the Business Sales and Inventories report for April , both from the Census Bureau; the May report on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization from the Fed, and the May report on New Residential Construction , also from the Census Bureau.. The week also saw the release of the first two Fed regional manufacturing reports for June: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the New York Fed, which covers all of New York state, an adjacent county in Connecticut, Puerto Rico and northern New Jersey, reported their headline general business conditions index fell to +5.7 June, down from +19 .6 in May, indicating that a significantly smaller plurality of that district’s manufacturers are experiencing business growth than were a month ago..…meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey , covering most of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, reported their broadest dif...

May’s consumer and producer prices and existing home sales; April’s trade deficit and wholesale inventories

Major reports released last week included the May Consumer Price Index and the May Producer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Commerce Dept’s report on our International Trade in Goods and Services for April , the Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories report for April from the Census Bureau, and the May report on existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors (NAR)… CPI Rose 0.5% in May on Higher Prices for Fuel and Shelter The consumer price index was 0.5% higher in May, as higher prices for fuel, rent, lodging away from home, electricity, clothing, airline fares, vehicle maintenance and repairs, internet and telephone service, postage and delivery services, hospital services, dentist’s services, appliances, tax preparation, and admissions to sporting events were only partly offset by lower prices for utility gas, new cars and trucks, car and truck rentals, vehicle insurance, tires, furniture, outdoor equipment, floor coverings, prescription and ...

May’s jobs report, construction spending, factory inventories and JOLTS

Last week’s major economic releases included both of the major monthly employment reports: the Employment Situation Summary for May and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for April, both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in addition to the April report on Construction Spending (pdf), and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for April , with both of those from the Census Bureau.…in addition, late on Friday the Fed released the Consumer Credit Report for April , which showed that overall consumer credit, a measure of non-real estate personal debt, expanded by a seasonally adjusted $20.7 billion, or at a 4.8% annual rate, as non-revolving credit expanded at a 2.9% rate to $3,804.4 billion while revolving credit outstanding grew at a 10.4% rate to $1,348.7 billion…… Privately issued reports released last week included the ADP Employment Report for May , wherein the national payroll processor reported a 122,000 increase in private jobs in...