U.S. Economic News
February 1, 2019
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. economy added 304,000 jobs in January, far above consensus. The unemployment rate rose to 4.0%, the labor force participation rate edged up to 63.2%, and average hourly earnings annual growth edged down to 3.2%. BLS Report
The ISM Manufacturing Index increased 2.3 percentage points to 56.6 in December. The Employment Index edged down 0.5 percentage point to 55.5 while the New Orders Index rose 6.9 percentage points to 58.2. ISM Report
Construction spending rose 0.8% in November to an annualized rate of $1.3 trillion. Public construction fell 0.9% while private construction increased 1.3%. Census Report
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that wholesale merchant inventories edged up 0.3% in November to $654.0 billion. Inventories were up 6.5% year-over-year. Census Report