Economic Outlook

Monday, September 12, 2011 

• Total non-farm payroll employment was unchanged at 131.132 million in August.
• The unemployment rate held steady at 9.1%.
• The average workweek for production of non-supervisory workers decreased by 0.1 to 33.5 hours. Average hourly earnings decreased by 2 cents to $19.47.
• The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 12 thousand to 409 thousand in the week ending August 27.
• Second quarter productivity decreased 0.7% (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the non-farm business sector, following a 0.6% decrease in the previous quarter.
• The producer price index for finished goods increased 0.2% in July, while the core index increased 0.4%.
• New orders for manufactured goods (excluding semiconductors) increased 2.4% in July, while shipments increased 1.6%.
• July construction spending decreased 1.3% to $789.5 billion, seasonally adjusted annual rate.
• The long term mortgage rate averaged 4.22% for the week ending August 25, unchanged from the previous week.
• The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, which had improved slightly in July, plummeted in August.
• The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing composite index (PMI) decreased 0.3 percentage points to 50.6% in August
• The Current Quarter Model’s average forecast for growth in third quarter real GDP was revised slightly downward, from 2.47% to 2.44%. The consumption deflator (chain-type) growth forecast was unchanged at 2.60%.
  
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