Highlights of key economic statistics from last week compiled by Putnam Investments.
- The S&P Global U.S. Composite PMI Output Index fell to 56.0 in April from 57.7 in March.
- Factory orders grew 2.2% in March, the Census Bureau noted.
- The Census Bureau found the goods and services trade deficit increased in March.
- The U.S. added 428,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Initial claims rose by 19,000 to 200,000 in the week ended April 30, 2022, the Department of Labor reported.
- As of April 29, 2022, of the 264 S&P 500 Index companies that reported first-quarter earnings, 209 beat analysts’ estimates, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- The European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator for the euro area declined in April.
- Euro area industrial producer prices rose 5.3% in March compared with February, Eurostat noted.
- Eurostat stated euro area retail sales fell 0.4% in March.
- Germany’s Federal Statistical Office noted factory orders declined 4.7% in March compared with February.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose.
- The Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by half a percentage point to 0.75% to 1.0%.
- Rising energy prices, worsened by the Russia-Ukraine War, increase the risk of stagflation and recession, even as central banks seek monetary policy normalization.
- Declining liquidity and deteriorating financial conditions, combined with high valuations, should lead to a substantial uptick in risk asset volatility.
- Global leverage is at worrisome levels and will eventually need to be paid for, at a time when most developed markets are facing a fiscal drag from the end of post-pandemic stimulus.
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