The US Economy, surprisingly, held itself together with most of the economy-related reports that came out in the last few weeks remaining largely positive. Jobless Claims declined by 12,000, exports of goods and services hit a 2-1/2-year high causing trade deficit to shrink, wholesale inventories rose by 0.9%, average hourly wages increased by an annualized 2.9%, and 2-year Treasury yields hit 1.52%, the highest level since 2008.
As hurricane Irma and Harvey battered Southern United States, the question has always been: how much damage would they cause to the economy? But, so far, things have been relatively calm, and the economy has kept inching forward instead of backward.
The most important metric was jobless claims, and the US weekly jobless claims came in at 260,000, lower than the 265,000 expected by economists.
But no one really knew how things would pan out after the storms, and their impact on Florida, Texas and Georgia. The claims could actually be higher, as people who have been displaced may not have filed their numbers yet. A clearer picture will only emerge over the next few weeks.
Claims have remained well below the crucial 300,000 mark, a number which we last saw in February, 2015, and it clearly shows that the US economy is still holding itself together. It may not be as well as most would want, but it isn’t doing really badly, either.
Trade Deficit Narrows
“The U.S. trade deficit fell in August as exports of goods and services rose to the highest level in more than 2-1/2 years,” reported Reuters. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the trade gap declined 2.7 percent to $42.4 billion. July’s trade deficit was revised slightly down to $43.6 billion from the previously reported $43.7 billion.”
Export numbers were helped by an improving global economy and a weaker dollar, but the crucial US-China trade deficit rose 4%.
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