Update for October 7, 2019
Highlights of key economic statistics from last week compiled by Putnam Investments.
- The Institute for Supply Management reported that manufacturing contracted in September for the second straight month.
- Construction spending rose 0.1% in August, according to the Census Bureau.
- The trade deficit widened in August, the Census Bureau stated.
- Initial jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 219,000 in the week ended September 28, 2019, according to the Department of Labor.
- The U.S. added 136,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
- As of September 3, 2019, of the 497 S&P 500 Index companies reporting second-quarter earnings, 366 — or 73.6% — beat analysts’ estimates, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- The Conference Board’s Measure of CEO Confidence fell in the third quarter, reaching its lowest level since the first quarter of 2009.
- Eurostat found that producer prices dropped 0.5% in the euro area in August.
- Retail trade increased 0.3% in the euro area in August, Eurostat stated.
- The Eurozone PMI Composite output Index fell to 50.1 in September from 51.9 in August.
- Euro area annual inflation declined to 0.9% in September from 1.0% in August, Eurostat reported.
- The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note declined.
- The cumulative effect of tariffs and low corporate confidence will increase pressure on global manufacturing.
- Brexit, Italian debt dynamics, and a fragile European banking system risk tipping Europe back into recession.
- Weak stimulus in China thus far is showing little sign of slowing the pace of deceleration.
