U.S. Economic News
August 17, 2017
U.S. Economic Indicators
Initial jobless claims fell 12,000 to 232,000 last week. The four-week moving average fell 500 to 240,500. DOL Report
Industrial production rose 0.2% in July (up 2.2% Y/Y) after rising 0.4% in the previous month. Capacity utilization was unchanged at 76.6. Fed Report
U.S. News
David Harrison of the Wall Street Journal reports that Federal Reserve officials are increasingly divided over the timing of their next rate hike. As low inflation persists, some officials believe that the economy is undergoing a fundamental shift to a low-inflation era, while others believe that the tight labor market could cause a surge in inflation and overheat the economy. WSJ
According to the Wall Street Journal the Henry Hub spot price of natural gas is becoming the global natural gas benchmark. The growing prominence of the Henry Hub price of gas comes as U.S. natural gas exports reach countries all around the world, and experts believe that the U.S. will increasingly become the global price-setter. WSJ
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed., former Vice-Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Blinder writes that economic expansions “don’t die of old age,” and that there are no serious short-term threats to current economic expansion. Blinder also writes that, although the current expansion is the third-longest on record, economic indicators suggest that growth will continue for the foreseeable future. WSJ