U.S. Economic News
September 10, 2020
U.S. Economic Indicators
Initial jobless claims were unchanged at 884,000 last week. The four-week moving average fell 21,750 to 970,750. DOL Report
The headline Producer Price Index (“PPI”) for final demand rose 0.3% in August but is down 0.2% year-over-year. The core – which removes the volatile prices of food, energy, and trade services – rose 0.3% in August and is up 0.3% from a year ago. BLS Report
U.S. News
The Washington Post reports that months into the Main Street Lending Program, uptake remains low, with lawmakers split on whether to relax the program’s requirements to encourage participation or seek out alternative avenues for small- and medium-sized business support. The program has issued just $1.2 billion of its $600 billion loan capacity, and while some lawmakers believe shifting all liability to the Fed will incentivize greater bank participation, it also raises the likelihood that banks will make riskier loans that will eventually go bad. WaPo