Weekly jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 11 fell by 3,000 to 45,000, countering economists' prediction of a 9,000 increase in claims. The four-week moving average decreased by 13,500 to 464,750, and continuing claims dropped 84,000 to 4.485 million. However, weekly claims from the week ended Sept. 4 were revised upward to 453,000 from 451,000.
The producer price index increased 0.4%, seasonally adjusted, for finished goods in August compared with July. It was the second consecutive month producer prices increased, helped by energy costs in August. Although this data might e ase deflation concerns, inflationary pressures are also still low; producer prices increased by only 0.1% when excluding food and energy prices.
The Commerce Department reported the U.S. current-account deficit increased to $123.3 billion in the second quarter, compared with an upward revised deficit of $109.2 billion in the first quarter. The second-quarter trade gap also increased to $131.6 billion from $114.5 billion in the first quarter.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index posted a drop of 0.7 in September. Although this is a step up from the decline of 7.7 in August, economists predicted the index would move into positive territory, which would indicate growth in economic activity.
(uptrend is keeping well, cheers bulls)
0 comments:
Post a Comment