U.S. Economic News
September 28, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. Census Bureau Advance Economic Indicators Report shows that the goods deficit decreased 1.4% in August. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories rose 1.0% while retail inventories increased 0.7%. Census Bureau Report
The third estimate of Q2 GDP indicates that the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.1%, above the previous estimate of 3.0%. The reading mainly reflects an upward revision of private inventory investment. BEA
Initial jobless claims increased 12,000 to 272,000 last week. The four-week moving average rose 9,000 to 277,750. DOL Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that the new GOP tax plan aims to lower taxes on many individuals and simplify the corporate tax code. The plan will collapse the seven existing person income tax brackets to three new brackets and will lower the corporate tax rate to 20%. WSJ
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances shows that minority households and families with less education enjoyed larger proportional gains in income than others between 2013 and 2016. The Fed says that these results show that the continued economic recovery has reached a wide swath of society despite measures of income inequality worsening over this time period. WSJ