U.S. Economic News
November 3, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index rose 0.3 percentage point to 60.1 in October. The new orders index edged down 0.2 percentage point to 62.8 while the employment index improved 0.7 percentage point to 57.5. ISM Report
The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October, below consensus. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the labor force participation rate dropped to 62.7%, and average hourly earnings decelerated to 2.4% Y/Y. BLS Report
New factory orders for manufactured goods rose 1.4% in September following a 1.2% increase in August, and are up 5.6% on the year. New orders excluding transportation rose 0.7% while new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft increased 1.7%. Census Bureau Report
The U.S. trade deficit increased from $42.8 billion in August (revised) to $43.5 billion in September. The goods deficit rose $0.6 billion while the services surplus edged down $0.2 billion. Census Bureau Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that House Republicans released their tax reform bill yesterday. The bill aims to reduce corporate taxes significantly and to simplify the individual tax code by collapsing seven brackets to three and eliminating most itemized deductions. WSJ