Regional U.S. Manufacturing Readings Show Continued Softness In Sector

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

• Regional manufacturing readings in the United States were again mixed last week. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said manufacturing activity in its region stabilized in August. The bank’s composite index was at a neutral zero this month, but that was an improvement from -11 in July and -12 in June. The change from July was primarily due to increases in printing, wood production, and furniture manufacturing. The production and shipments indexes rose significantly while the materials inventory index continued to decline. The employment reading also fell. Read the full report here. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond announced manufacturing activity in its region remained sluggish in August, however. The bank’s composite manufacturing index rose from -9 in July to -7 in August. Shipments and new orders improved, but the employment index fell from +5 in July to -3 in August. Read that report here.
• During the week that ended Aug. 19, 2023, 230,000 individuals filed for S. federal unemployment benefits for the first time. That number was down 10,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of first-time claims totaled 236,750, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week. During the week that ended Aug. 12, 2023, 1.702 million people continued to receive jobless benefits, a decrease of 9,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of continuing claims rose, however.
• In other economic news: the University of Michigan index of U.S. consumer sentiment fell from 71.6 in July to 69.5 in August; Canadian retail sales rose 0.1 percent in June to $65.9 billion as three of nine subsectors improved, led by a 2.5 increase at motor vehicle and parts dealers; and existing home sales in the United States fell 2.2 percent from June 2023 to July 2023 and 16.6 percent from July 2022 to July 2023.