Latest Economic News

The economy created 254,000 jobs last month, far above forecasts of 150,000. Job creation was led by the usual industry suspects of health care (45,000), leisure and hospitality (78,000), and government (31,000). August’s job count was revised up by 17,000 while July’s was revised up by a very strong 55,000.

It’s hard to argue that over the past six months, job creation hasn’t been on an upward trajectory. But looking back over a longer period, using a three-month rolling average to smooth the data out, it’s clear that over the past few years, not just six months, job creation has been slowing.

May saw a slight moderation in consumer inflation, with the consumer price index (CPI) remaining unchanged on a month-over-month basis and inching down to 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. This is still above the Fed's target of 2.0%, as it was the 12th consecutive month it has wandered between 3.0% and 3.7%. In other words, it has gone nowhere in 12 months. 

"Core" inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, showed more promise, cooling to 3.5% on a year-over-year basis, and unlike the headline, does appear to be making progress towards that target. But you wouldn't know that from the Fed's last meeting