U.S. Economic News
June 25, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell from +0.42 (revised) in April to -0.15 in May. The production and personal consumption & housing components made negative contributions while the employment and sales components contributed positively. Chicago Fed Report
New home sales rose 6.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 689,000 in May, and are 14.1% above the May 2017 rate. The median sales price declined to $313,000 and the inventory of new homes decreased to 5.2 months at the current sales rate. Census Bureau Report
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that the Trump administration plans to further restrict Chinese investment in key high-tech sectors in the U.S. Although Chinese foreign direct investment in the U.S. has already plunged more than 90 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period of 2017, the White House is expected to unilaterally declare an “economic emergency” and establish new limits on Chinese investment. FT
Josh Mitchell of the Wall Street Journal writes that student-loan forgiveness programs may end up posing a risk to some borrowers who are unable to cover the additional tax expense. Mitchell points out that the IRS treats any forgiven debt as income, so if a borrower has a significant balance of their loan forgiven they may be unable to pay the additional taxes. WSJ