U.S. Economic News
December 1, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
The ISM Manufacturing Index edged down 0.5 percentage point to 58.2 in November. The New Orders Index inched up 0.6 percentage point to 64.0 while the Employment Index ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 59.7. ISM Report
Construction spending increased 1.4% in October to an annualized rate of $1.24 trillion. Public construction rose 3.9% and private construction edged up 0.6%. Census Report
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that Congressional Republicans are scrambling to rework their tax reform bill after the Senate parliamentarian determined that the prior bill did not conform to Senate rules. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that the inclusion of an automatic “trigger” that would raise taxes if economic growth was below projections was against Senate rules, forcing bill-writers to revise key parts of the plan. FT
According to the Wall Street Journal, House Republicans will propose a short-term spending bill today to avoid a government shutdown when the government’s current funding expires on December 9th. Republicans aim to extend the government’s current funding through December 22nd with the short-term bill, which would give them time to negotiate a two-year budget deal that would allow for a detailed spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year. WSJ