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发表于 2009-4-11 01:45 PM
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In USA 4/9/09
Initial Claims in Steady, Bad State:
The good news in the latest initial claims report is that initial claims aren't worsening. They slipped to 654,000 (consensus 660,000) in the week ending April 4 from the prior week's level of 674,000. That left the four-week moving average fairly steady at 657,250 versus 658,000 the week before.
The bad news is that the level of claims still speaks to a very weak labor market, as does the level of continuing claims, which worsened to a record 5.84 million from 5.745 million in the prior week. The four-week moving average jumped to 5.648 million from 5.501 million.
There will be some relief that the headline figure for initial claims wasn't worse than expected, but the labor market, albeit a lagging indicator, clearly continues to be a growth deterrent.
08:51 ET
Deficit Drops as Total Trade Continues Downward Trend:
The February trade deficit dropped a surprisingly sharp $10.2 billion to $26.0 billion from $36.2 billion in January. This resulted from a very surprising $2.0 billion increase in exports along with a not so surprising $8.2 billion drop in imports.
The real (price adjusted) trade deficit took a similar drop to $35.6 billion from $44.0 billion. This will have a substantial upward impact on the first quarter real GDP calculation.
Real personal consumption expenditures were up in January and February (and probably March).
A boost from the trade components will help offset a plunge in business investment and it now looks like real GDP might be down at "only" about a 2% annual rate. The statistical benefit to U.S. GDP should not be overemphasized. Trade remains on a serious slide that is hurting economies around the world.
The three-month moving average of U.S. imports in February was $162.0 billion. That is down from $223.2 billion in July. U.S. exports on this basis were $128.0 billion, down from $165.1 billion in August. Lower trade hurts the global economy. |
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