U.S. Economic News
May 26, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
New orders of manufactured durable goods fell 0.7% in April after increasing 2.3% in March (revised), and are up 2.2% year-over-year. Excluding transportation, new orders fell 0.4% (up 3.8% Y/Y). Census Bureau Report
The second estimate of Q1 GDP indicates that the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.2%, above the initial estimate. The revised reading reflects slight improvements to consumer spending, residential & business investment, and net exports, while inventories worsened somewhat. BEA
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index inched up 0.1 point to 97.1 in the final May reading and is up 2.4 points on the year. The index for consumer expectations rose 0.7 point while the index for current economic conditions fell 1.0 point. Report
U.S. News
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says that secular stagnation has proven to be as serious a problem as he previously thought. Summers argues that persistently slow economic growth, low inflation, and low interest rates all support his secular stagnation hypothesis he introduced in 2013. WSJ