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October 5, 2015

Latest Economic News From The U.S. & Canada

  • Driven by a 2.9 percent expansion in the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sectors, the Canadian economy expanded 0.3 percent in July. The reading was slightly lower than the 0.4 percent growth rate analysts had predicted. The manufacturing sector expanded 0.6 percent in July.
  • According to the Department of Labor (DOL), the United States economy added 142,000 jobs in August. The reading was below analysts’ predictions of 190,000 new jobs. The nation’s jobless rate, meanwhile, held steady at 5.1 percent while manufacturers shed 9,000 jobs. The DOL also announced last week that 277,000 Americans filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time during the week that ended Sept. 26. The figure was up from 267,000 the week before. The number of individuals who continued to file for benefits fell to 2.191 million for the week that ended Sept. 19 from 2.244 million the week before.
  • In the United States, the number of new orders for manufactured goods fell 1.7 percent between July and August while shipments fell 0.7 percent during the same period. The number of unfilled orders also declined while inventories were down 0.3 percent.
  • While the Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the United States fell to 50.2 in September from 51.1 in August due to lower production and fewer new orders, the Markit PMI for the United States increased to 53.1 in September from 53.0 in August even though employment slowed and input prices declined. Meanwhile, the Royal Bank of Canada PMI fell to 48.6 in September from 49.4 in August. The bank reported, “Canadian manufacturers indicated further deterioration in overall business conditions during September, with output, new business and employment levels all falling since the previous month, according to the RBC PMI for September.”
  • In regional manufacturing news, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas announced that its general business activity index increased to -9.5 in September from -15.6 in August as readings for production, shipments, capacity utilization and new orders all improved.
  • In other economic news: U.S. personal incomes rose 0.3 percent between July and August while personal consumption rose 0.4 percent; the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence in the United States rose to 103.0 in September from 101.3 in August; and U.S. construction spending increased 0.7 percent between July 2015 and August 2015 and 13.7 percent between August 2014 and August 2015. 

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