U.S. Economic News
August 3, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in July, below consensus. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.9%, the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.9%, and average hourly earnings held steady at 2.7% Y/Y. BLS Report
The U.S. trade deficit widened from $43.2 billion in May (revised) to $46.3 billion in June. The goods deficit jumped $3.1 billion while the services surplus decreased less than $0.1 billion. Census Bureau Report
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index decreased 3.4 percentage points to 55.7 in July. The New Orders Index plunged 6.2 percentage points to 57.0 while the Employment Index rose 2.5 percentage points to 56.1. ISM Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that China has threatened tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods if the U.S. moves ahead with further tariffs on Chinese goods. The People’s Bank of China also announced that it will increase the reserve requirement for investors betting that the yuan will fall in value in an attempt to stabilize the currency, which has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar in over a year. WSJ