U.S. Economic News
May 1, 2019
U.S. Economic Indicators
The ADP Employment Report shows that private-sector employment increased by 275,000 jobs in April, well above expectations of 180,000. The services sector added 223,000 jobs, while the goods-producing sector added 52,000 jobs. ADP Report
The ISM Manufacturing Index decreased 2.5 percentage points to 52.8 in April. The Employment Index fell 5.1 percentage points to 52.4, while the New Orders Index fell 5.7 percentage points to 51.7. ISM Report
Construction spending fell 0.9% in March to an annualized rate of $1.28 trillion. Public construction decreased 1.3% while private construction decreased 0.7%. Census Bureau Report
U.S. News
According to the Wall Street Journal, the recent rise in the effective federal funds rate may prompt Federal Reserve officials to lower the interest on excess reserves (IOER) rate. The Fed uses IOER to set the top end of the target federal funds rate range and lowered it twice last year; such actions, however, can reduce market confidence in the Fed’s policy tools. WSJ