U.S. Economic News
January 4, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
The ADP Employment Report shows that private-sector employment increased by 250,000 jobs in December, well above expectations of 188,000. The services sector added 222,000 jobs and the goods-producing sector added 28,000 jobs. ADP Report
Initial jobless claims increased 3,000 to 250,000 last week. The four-week moving average rose 3,500 to 241,750. DOL Report
U.S. News
Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal writes that Ray Dalio, founder of hedge-fund manager Bridgewater, deems Americans’ growing debt a looming threat to economic growth and a point of vulnerability as interest rates rise. Dalio argues that the Fed’s balancing act between the need for higher interest rates to tame inflation with the need for lower interest rates to pay off debt will become riskier as time goes on. WSJ
According to the Financial Times, car parts retailers are seeing a boost in sales as colder weather takes its toll on cars. The recent cold snap will test whether previous mild winters were responsible for dampened sales, or if the shift to e-commerce fueled the decline. FT