The economic news isn’t looking so hot – at all.
We just recently learned U.S. durable goods orders slipped 1.1% in September 2019. That was after the ISM September survey on manufacturing registered came in at 47.8%, down from 49.1% from July. Now, we’re learning consumer confidence isn’t so hot either.
In fact, it just fell for the third consecutive month to 125.9 in October from 126.3 in September. However, according to Conference Board economist Lynn Franco, as noted by U.S News & World Report, “even with the recent declines, confidence remains high and that should support strong holiday shopping.”
Unfortunately, with a global slowdown, issues in the Middle East, and that pesky trade war with China, confidence has been rattled.
Later this week, we’ll also hear how the U.S. did with October jobs.
At the moment, the October 2019 report may show growth of less than 100,000 jobs thanks to the strike at General Motors. “The direct impact from the GM strike is 46,000. That’s a one-for-one reduction in the level of payrolls. On top of that, there are secondary impacts in the GM supply chain, primarily upstream from them— a lot of auto parts manufacturers and other kinds of primary metals companies,” said Bank of America, as quoted by CNBC.
Also, on tap for this week, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of Japan will make their policy decisions. We’ll also get the latest GDP report on Wednesday. By Thursday, we’ll hear about consumer spending numbers, Chicago PMI, and core inflation.
Stay tuned for reports on each of those releases.
