U.S. Economic News
January 17, 2019
U.S. Economic Indicators
Initial jobless claims fell 3,000 to 213,000 last week. The four-week moving average decreased 1,000 to 220,750. DOL Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, a collection of anecdotal information on current economic conditions, signals that optimism is fading among U.S. businesses due to the government shutdown, trade war, rising borrowing costs, and a volatile stock market. While the report is has a generally positive outlook of the U.S. economy, it reveals a sense of worry that Fed officials will have to consider during their next meeting. WSJ
Emre Peker of the Wall Street Journal reports that the European Union set restrictions on steel imports in response to disruptive trade policies taken by the U.S. Europe’s imports surged since the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports into the U.S., and their new restrictions hope to balance protecting European steelmakers and avoiding harm to steel users. WSJ
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve has linked rising student debt to declining homeownership among young Americans. The Fed’s research found that homeownership among young people in the U.S. fell 9 percentage points, and 2 percentage points of that drop was tied directly to student debt. WSJ