USA Existing-home sales declined 2.2% in July to 4,070K (seasonally adjusted and annualized). Contract closings fell in both the single-family (-1.9% to 3,650K) and the condo (-4.5% to 420K) segments. Lower sales, combined with an increased number of homes available on the market (+3.7% to 1,110K), meant the inventory-to-sales ratio ticked up to 3.3. Despite increasing [...]
USA Retail sales advanced 0.7% in July, overshooting the +0.4% print expected by consensus. The prior month’s growth was revised up from +0.2% to +0.3%. Sales of motor vehicles and parts contributed negatively to the headline print as they eased 0.3% in the first month of Q3. Excluding autos, retail outlays rose a consensus-topping 1.0% as [...]
USA Nonfarm payrolls rose 187K in July, a bit less than the median economist forecast calling for a +200K print. This negative surprise was compounded by a -49K cumulative revision to the previous two months’ data. Employment in the goods sector advanced 18K as gains in construction (+19K) and mining/logging (+1K) were only partially offset by [...]
