Latest Economic News From The U.S. and Canada
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the world economy will expand 3.3 percent this year, down from its 3.7 percent prediction released in April, and 3.8 percent next year. The IMF also “warned that the world economy may never return to the pace of expansion seen before the financial crisis.”
- The Canadian economy added 74,100 jobs in September as the national unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent from seven percent in August. The large majority of the jobs (69,300) created were full-time.
- The number of Americans who filed for federal unemployment benefits fell to 287,000 for the week that ended Oct. 4 from 288,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of first-time claims also fell to its lowest level since February 2006 while the number of Americans who continued to receive benefits also dropped to 2.381 million for the week that ended Sept. 27. That figure was at its lowest since May 2006. The U.S. Labor Department also reported last week there were 4.8 million jobs open in the nation at the end of August, up from 4.6 million open jobs at the end of July.
- U.S. wholesale sales fell 0.7 percent from July 2014 to August 2014, but were up 5.8 percent between August 2013 and August 2014. Durable goods orders increased 0.1 percent for the month and seven percent year-over-year while overall inventories were up 0.7 percent for the month and 7.9 percent for the year. The inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.19 in August 2014 from 1.16 in August 2013.
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. import prices were down 0.5 percent from August to September due to lower fuel prices while export prices fell 0.2 percent for the month.