US Minutes from the January FOMC meeting indicate the coronavirus will not push the Fed to cut interest rates. Positive housing and manufacturing survey data last week supported that view. While trade tensions have receded markedly in recent months, the coronavirus has taken its place as the latest source of uncertainty plaguing businesses and investors. [...]
US Employers added another 225,000 workers to their payrolls in January, an outcome that exceeded expectations. Owing partly to the fact that more people are entering the labor force, the unemployment rate edged higher to a still-low 3.6%. Another drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance attests to the fact that the labor market remains [...]
US Growth in Q4 was boosted by a sizable 1.5 % contribution from net exports, as a modest increase in exports was offset by a steep decline in imports. The threat of additional tariffs in December likely led many importers to pull purchases forward into earlier in the year, which helps explain the dramatic decline. [...]
US The December existing home sales print rose a solid 3.6% to a 5.54 million-unit pace as the housing market renaissance continues. Lower mortgage rates have brought buyers back into the market, particularly in the South and West, where population and employment growth remain the strongest. The rebound in existing home sales follows a string [...]
US The first major economic indicator to hit the wire in 2020 was the ISM manufacturing report, which showed the fastest pace of contraction since the height of the 2008 recession. So when the ISM non-manufacturing report was published earlier last week, financial markets were relieved to see that barometer of the service sector rise [...]
US The first major economic indicator to hit the wire in 2020 was the ISM manufacturing report, which showed the fastest pace of contraction since the height of the 2008 recession. When the ISM non-manufacturing report was published earlier last week, financial markets were relieved to see that barometer of the service sector rise to [...]
US President Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached, after the House voted 230-197 and 229-198 along strictly partisan lines to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Despite the historic nature of the vote, there was negligible reaction from financial markets. Trump joins Bill Clinton (1998) and [...]
US An agreement between the White House and Democrats in the House of Representatives was reached this week paving the way for passage of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a reworking of the nearly three-decade-old NAFTA accord. Officials from the three countries met in Mexico last week to approve revisions to the agreement, which is set [...]
US Hiring came roaring back in November, as employers added a whopping 266K net new jobs. Employers also hired more workers in October than previously thought with the revised data showing a gain of 156K, up from 128K previously estimated. The unemployment rate ticked back down to its 50-year low of 3.5%. Manufacturing employment rebounded [...]
US As the Thanksgiving holiday compressed the economic indicator schedule into the first half of the week, market attention remained squarely focused on the data performance in order to gauge the overall health of the US economy during the final months of 2019. With regards to the consumer, the landscape remains largely positive. Consumer confidence, [...]
