U.S. Economic News
December 17, 2019
U.S. Economic Indicators
Privately-owned housing starts rose 3.2% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.37 million (up 13.6% year-over-year). Housing permits rose 1.4% to a 1.48 million annual pace in November and are up 11.1% from last year. Census Bureau Report
Industrial production rebounded 1.1% in November (down 0.8% year-over-year) after falling 0.9% (revised) in October. Capacity utilization rose 0.7 point to 77.3 in November. Fed Report
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (“JOLTS”), a closely-watched measure of labor market health, indicated that the number of job openings edged up to 7.3 million in October. The number of hires was little changed at 5.8 million, while the quits rate was unchanged at 2.3%. BLS Report
U.S. News
According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States and Mexico appear to have resolved the dispute over labor inspectors that threatened to derail implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer released a letter Monday clarifying that while the latest version of the pact calls for U.S. Labor Department officials to act as attachés to U.S. consulates in Mexico, such personnel will not be labor inspectors. WSJ