U.S. Economic News
February 13, 2020
U.S. Economic Indicators
Consumer prices rose 0.1% in January (up 2.5% from a year ago). The “core” CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2% in January (up 2.3% from last year). BLS Report
Initial jobless claims rose 2,000 to 205,000 last week. The four-week moving average was unchanged at 212,000. DOL Report
U.S. News
According to the Wall Street Journal, the International Energy Agency anticipates a decline in overall global oil demand over the first three months of 2020 – the first quarterly decline since the height of the financial crisis – due to a sharp slowdown in Chinese demand driven by the coronavirus outbreak. China accounted for more than three-quarters of global oil demand growth in 2019, and its oil demand has nearly doubled since the 2003 SARS epidemic. WSJ