In United States, Housing, Manufacturing Readings Soften

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on Industry Data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Economic Opportunity and Risk Tracker.

Meanwhile, here are the major economic headlines from the last week:

• The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators for the United States, a key gauge of current economic growth, decreased by 0.8 percent in June 2022 to 117.1 after declining by 0.6 percent in May. The index was down by 1.8 percent over the first half of 2022, a reversal from its 3.3 percent growth over the second half of 2021.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s manufacturing index fell nine points to-12.3 in July. The bank said that although most firms reported no change in activity (61 percent), the share of firms reporting decreases (24 percent) exceeded the share of firms reporting increases (12 percent). The index for new orders declined for the second consecutive month, from -12.4 to -24.8, but the current shipments index rose from 10.8 to 14.8. The indexes for current inventories and unfilled orders were both in negative territory. Click here to read the full report.
• The U.S. housing market continued to soften in last month. The number of new homes under construction in the United States fell two percent between May 2022 and June 2022 and 8.1 percent between June 2021 and June 2022. Click here to read the full report. In related news: sales of existing homes in the United states fell 5.4 percent for the month and 14.2 percent year-over-year.
• Canada’s rate of consumer inflation continued to rise last month, increasing 8.1 percent from June 2021 to June 2022 after jumping 7.7 percent in May. The increase was the largest yearly change since January 1983. The acceleration in June was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline, but price increases were broad-based. Seven of eight major components rose by three percent or more. Click here to read the full report.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 251,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits for the first time during the week that ended July 16, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of first-time claims was 240,500, an increase of 4,500 from the week before. During the week that ended July 9, 1.384 million individuals continued to receive federal jobless benefits, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also increased.