A drive to update plants and equipment is propelling gains in business investment that will probably keep American factories busy even as consumer spending shows signs of cooling. Better wage growth could broaden household purchases beyond automobiles and help sustain the pickup in manufacturing.
Manufacturing expanded in July at the fastest pace in more than three years, showing factories will help power the economy after a second-quarter rebound, other data showed today.
Gross domestic product fell at a 2.9% annualized rate, more than forecast and the worst reading since the same three months in 2009, after a previously reported 1 percent drop, the Commerce Department said today.
Retail sales rose less than forecast in May as American consumers took a respite following a three-month surge in shopping that has underpinned economic growth.
Jobless claims declined by 26,000 to 323,000 in the week ended March 1, the least since the end of November and fewer than any economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
Service industries in the U.S. expanded at a slower pace than forecast in December as orders contracted for the first time since 2009, showing uneven progress in the biggest part of the economy.
Federal Reserve policy makers will continue to weigh reductions to a bond-buying program aimed at stimulating growth because improvements in the job market are meeting the central bank’s objectives, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said.
