U.S. Economic News
April 18, 2019
U.S. Economic Indicators
Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 192,000 last week, the lowest level in nearly 50 years. The four-week moving average fell 6,000 to 201,250. DOL Report
Retail sales rose 1.6% in March and were up 3.6% on the year. Core sales — which exclude autos, gasoline, building materials, and food services — increased 1.0%. Census Bureau Report
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that wholesale merchant inventories edged up 0.2% in February to $668.9 billion. Inventories were up 6.9% year-over-year. Census Report
The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (“LEI”) increased 0.4% to 111.9 in March but is largely unchanged from six months ago. Despite the solid gain in March, the trend in the US LEI continues to moderate, suggesting that growth is likely to decelerate toward 2 percent by year’s end. Conference Board Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker maintains that the Fed may be able to raise interest rates two more times over the next couple of years. Harker believes the Fed should continue its wait-and-see approach as short-term data fluctuations are assessed, though a strong labor market, muted inflation, and sustained moderate growth are reasons to be optimistic about the economy. WSJ