Highlights of key economic statistics from last week compiled by Putnam Investments.
- The CPI increased 0.3% and core CPI rose 0.1% in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
- Retail sales grew 0.7% in August compared with July, the Census Bureau stated in an advance report.
- Import prices declined 0.3% and export prices advanced 0.4% in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted.
- Initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 to 332,000 in the week ended September 11, 2021, according to the Department of Labor.
- As of September 8, 2021, of the 499 S&P 500 Index companies reporting second-quarter earnings, 429 beat analysts’ estimates, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased slightly in August.
- The University of Michigan’s preliminary estimate of its index of consumer sentiment rose to 71.0 in September from 70.3 in August.
- Germany’s Federal Statistical Office noted that wholesale prices rose 0.5% in August compared with July.
- Eurostat reported that the euro area recorded a trade surplus in July.
- Euro area industrial production grew 1.5% in July compared with June, according to Eurostat.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note traded in a narrow range.
- Divergent vaccination rollout timelines and virus mutations risk could cause a shift from a synchronized global recovery to a more fractured regional, multispeed recovery.
- Global leverage, created by pandemic response packages, is at worrisome levels and will eventually need to be paid for.
- A shift from “just in time” to “just in case” inventory models could exacerbate supply chain concerns.
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