U.S. Economic News
September 8, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that wholesale merchant inventories rose 0.6% in July to $602.4 billion. Inventories were up 3.3% year-over-year. Census Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that the House has passed a combined three-month debt ceiling extension and disaster relief bill that passed the Senate yesterday. The bill, which comes after President Trump reached an agreement with Senate Democrats, gives Congress much-needed time to formulate a longer-term debt ceiling extension. WSJ
Gregory Meyer of the Financial Times writes that both the Panama Canal and U.S. east coast ports have been expanded in recent years to accommodate larger ships, which could reshape the flow of goods across North America. The expansions that have been completed this year may make it cheaper to ship goods from Asia to Atlantic ports instead of Pacific ports. FT
According to the Wall Street Journal, persistently low inflation readings have forced Federal Reserve officials to reconsider the path of future rate hikes. While the Fed was planning another rate hike for this coming December, officials recently have indicated that they would like to see prices begin to rise before enacting another rate hike. WSJ