U.S. Economic News
May 16, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
Privately-owned housing starts fell 3.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million (up 10.5% year-over-year). Housing permits declined 1.8% to a 1.35 million annual pace in April but are up 7.7% on the year. Census Bureau Report
Industrial production rose 0.7% in April (up 3.5% Y/Y), after increasing 0.7% (revised) in March. Capacity utilization rose 0.4 point to 78.0 in April. Fed Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump’s goal of rewriting NAFTA in 2018 now appears unattainable after negotiators failed to reach a deal this week. House Speaker Paul Ryan had set this Thursday as an informal deadline for the negotiations, as legislative approval for any new agreement may be harder to obtain after July elections in Mexico and November elections in the U.S. WSJ
According to the Financial Times, U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad says that the U.S. and China are “still very far apart” on trade negotiations. Key sticking points include a timetable for when China will remove automobile tariffs and will open its domestic financial sector to foreign companies. FT