Article

2019-09-20 Economy

Upbeat data suggest U.S. economy still on moderate growth path

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased less than expected last week, pointing to strong labor market conditions that should continue to support an economy growing at a moderate pace.

The steady economic growth pace was also underscored by other data on Thursday showing home resales rising in August to a 17-month high. While factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region slowed in September, orders remained solid, leading manufacturers in the region to increase employment and boost hours for workers.

The reports suggested that housing and manufacturing, the two weak spots in the economy, were stabilizing. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by another 25 basis points on Wednesday, citing risks to the longest economic expansion in history from a year-long U.S.-China trade war and slowing economic growth overseas.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he expected the economy, now in its 11th year of expansion, to continue to "expand at a moderate rate," but noted trade tensions were "weighing on U.S. investment and exports.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-09-20 02:02|| || Front Page|| [11128 views ] Top

#1 Per se, that's not necessarily a good news - not if doesn't affect voting behavior. Otherwise, it just means there are more for Demonrats to loot.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-09-20 02:25|| 2019-09-20 02:25|| Front Page Top

#2 A humble suggestion - any real decrease in the annual deficit, even a measly 5%, would probably be warmly welcomed by the markets.

Posted by Iblis 2019-09-20 11:29|| 2019-09-20 11:29|| Front Page Top

#3 the 208k initial unemployment claims is less than almost any month in the historic (since 1968) data base.

for comparison, the level was about 300k before the 2008 'great recession' and it rocketed to 650k by 2009

the remarkable, almost unbelievable thing about the economy is how low interest rate are (below 2%) given growth in wages lately

Posted by lord garth 2019-09-20 11:50|| 2019-09-20 11:50|| Front Page Top

#4 another way to look at it is the 'Misery Index' which is the sum of the unemployment (U3) and inflation rate (CPI-U)

this index is currently about 5.5 which is about as good as it has ever been since WWII

Posted by lord garth 2019-09-20 14:49|| 2019-09-20 14:49|| Front Page Top

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