US: Mixed economic releases – ABN AMRO

Han de Jong, Chief Economist of ABN AMRO, explains that the recently released US data was mixed as the two closely followed indices of business confidence moved in opposite direction in November.

Key Quotes

“The so called Empire State index, a survey among 200 executives in the manufacturing sector in the state of New York, rose from 21.1 in October to 23.3 in November. It has essentially been moving sideways at a high level this year.”

“The Philly Fed index, which is based on a survey among 125 chief executives in the district of the Philadelphia Fed, fell from 22.2 in October to 12.9 in November. The November reading was the second lowest in the year and also the second lowest since November 2016.”

“US retail sales were strong in October, rising 0.8% mom after a small drop of 0.1% in September. So the consumer appears to be still going strong.”

“US inflation remained modest in October. Headline CPI inflation accelerated from 0.1% in September to 0.3% in October as the yoy rate moved up: 2.5% versus 2.3%. However, core inflation amounted to a slightly more modest 0.2% mom and yoy rate eased from 2.2% to 2.1%.”