U.S. Economic News
August 22, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
The FHFA House Price Index shows that U.S. house prices rose 1.6% in the second quarter of 2017 and were up 6.6% from the same period last year. House prices increased on an annual basis in 48 states and the District of Columbia, largely driven by critically low inventories. Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is “zero chance” that the U.S. would fail to raise the debt ceiling this fall. While the Department of the Treasury says that its current funding will last until the end of September, further delays in raising the debt ceiling could raise interest rates and accelerate that timeline. WSJ
Eric Morath of the Wall Street Journal writes that new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco attributes recent, sluggish wage growth to retiring “baby boomers”. The researchers argue that the departure of these older, higher-paid workers masks the healthy wage growth of workers who remain in the labor force. WSJ
The Financial Times reports that despite a lengthy global economic expansion, cross-border capital flows in 2016 were only one-third of their level in 2007. Even with low borrowing costs and a healthier global financial system, cross-border lending has fallen due to decreased risk appetite and a shift towards long-term foreign direct investment. FT