U.S. Economic News
April 5, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. trade deficit increased from $56.7 billion in January (revised) to $57.6 billion in February. The goods deficit rose $0.3 billion while the services surplus fell $0.6 billion. Census Bureau Report
Initial jobless claims rose 24,000 to 242,000 last week. The four-week moving average increased 3,000 to 228,250. DOL Report
U.S. News
Eric Morath of the Wall Street Journal writes that a new study by the University of Chicago found that recently-imposed trade barriers are unlikely to bring back many U.S. blue-collar jobs. The study reports that while tariffs may boost output for some domestic manufacturers, competition from China and other low-cost producers pushed the manufacturing sector to replace many lower-skilled workers with technology over the past two decades, a shift that is difficult to undo. WSJ