U.S. industrial production registers worst month since 2012
U.S. industrial output fell for the third straight month in November, another sign that American manufacturers are under stress.
U.S. industrial output fell for the third straight month in November, another sign that American manufacturers are under stress.
The National Association for Business Economics says the average forecast is for growth of 2.6 percent next year, down slightly from 2.7 percent in its previous survey conducted in September.
U.S. productivity this summer grew at a faster rate than first thought, though it still lagged the pace set in the spring. Labor costs were also revised up.
A business research group said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.4 in November, down from 99.1 in October. The index is at its lowest level since September 2014.
A survey of 500 chief financial officers at U.S. companies released Tuesday found them optimistic about the American economy, with more than half of them expecting to hire additional employees next year.
Real output growth in 2016 will average about 2.5 percent, which will be a little better than this year, but only equal to 2014, according to the forecast from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
In the past 12 months, pay and benefits have risen just 2 percent. That's below the 3.5 percent to 4 percent typical of a healthy economy.
Much of the September slowdown reflected a fall in energy prices, which resulted in a 1.2 percent drop in spending on nondurable goods such as gasoline.
The U.S. economy slowed sharply in the summer, reflecting a cutback in businesses' stockpiling of goods, which offset solid consumer spending.
If the U.S. economy were a compact car, it would be running on just three of four cylinders. That was the central message of a Fifth Third Bank expert at IBJ's 2016 Economic Forecast on Wednesday.
While many CEOs are planning for the next fiscal year, a cohort of local executives is planning for the next fiscal downturn. Group members have their eyes on 2019, forecast by some economists to be the year the next economic contraction arrives.
Stores are also grappling with shoppers’ shift away from clothing and other traditional merchandise and more toward experiences like spas and concert tickets.
U.S. hiring showed a strong downturn in September, and job gains for July and August were lower than previously thought, a sour note for a labor market that had been steadily improving.
Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point since 2007 in August despite the loss of 5,500 private-sector jobs, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development announced Friday.
Hiring in August was the slowest in five months. U.S. stocks opened lower Friday after the report left investors uncertain about the outlook for interest rate policy.
Labor costs fell at a 1.4-percent rate in the second quarter, indicating that wages are not rising even as unemployment declines.
U.S. consumers increased their spending by a moderate amount in July, while income growth was propelled by the largest jump in wages and salaries in eight months.
The economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the April-June quarter, more than a percentage point greater than the 2.3 percent originally estimated last month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell into a correction Monday for the first time since 2011 in one of the most volatile trading days ever, as a rout in global equity markets deepened.
A wave of fear triggered by instability in China initially doused U.S. stocks on Monday morning, but then quickly receded by noon.