Import Prices, Retail Sales, Business Inventories ... other key economic data
The
U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.8% in August, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. The August increase was led by a 2.3%
advance in petroleum prices, although a 0.5 percent rise in
nonpetroleum prices was also a contributing factor. Export prices
increased 0.4% for the second consecutive month in August.
It was the fourth increase of at least 0.8% in the last five months and followed an upwardly revised 1.0% increase in July.
In the 12 months to August, import prices climbed 6.6%. Petroleum import prices rose 2.3% in August and are up 24.3% compared with a year ago.
- Import prices from Canada and from Mexico both rose 1.7% in August, led by higher fuel prices.
- Prices for imports from Japan and from China also advanced in August, each rising 0.1% for the month.
- The price index for imports from the European Union was unchanged in August while import prices from the EU increased 5.9% over the past year.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August were $368.2 billion, an increase of 0.2% from the previous month and up 6.7% from August 2005. Total sales for the June through August 2006 period were up 5.6% from the same period a year ago. The June to July 2006 percent change was unrevised from +1.4 percent. Retail sales had actually fallen by 0.5% in June.
Retail trade sales were up 0.2% from July and were 6.6% above last year. Nonstore retailers were up 12.5% from August 2005 and sales of gasoline stations were up 11.0% from last year. Auto sales slowed down sharply in August, which edged up just 0.4% after rising by 4.3% in July.
Sales at department stores fell by 0.2% while sales at general merchandise stores, the category that also includes department stores, showed a 0.4% increase. Sales at specialty clothing stores slipped by 0.3% in August.
Business Inventories in July:
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for July was estimated at $1,067.7 billion, up 0.6% from June and up 8.1% from last year.
Business inventories estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,347.3 billion, up 0.6% from June and up 7.4% from year ago period. Business inventories rose 0.9% June 2006.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of July was 1.26. The July 2005 ratio was 1.27.
Jobless Claims:
The Labor Department reported that in the week ending Sept. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 308,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week, pushing initial jobless claims to a 7 week low.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending Sept. 2, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 2 was 2,499,000, an increase of 18,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,481,000.
The overall US economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.9% in the 2nd quarter after a sizzling pace of 5.3% in the first quarter of 2006.
