Here are some key economic releases from last week:
Inflation Nation: The Fed’s key measure of inflation, Core (ex food and energy) PCE grew by another 0.6% on a MOM basis in August which was hotter than expectations of 0.5% and YOY it grew at a pace of 4.9% which was hotter than estimates of 4.7%. The Headline PCE MOM was up 0.3% vs est of 0.3% and YOY it was up 6.2% vs est of 6.1%.Incomes and Spending: Personal Incomes grew at a pace of 0.3% which matched expectations and Spending was up 0.4% which was double market estimates of 0.2%Manufacturing: The September Chicago manufacturing PMI showed an unexpected contraction with a reading of 45.7 vs est of 51.8. Its the worst reading since June of 2020, when the nation was effectively on lockdown. August headline Durable Goods Orders were better (less worse) than estimates (-0.2% vs est of -0.4%). Ex Transportation, it matched expectations at +0.2%. But Ex Defense it dropped by -0.9% vs est of +0.0%). The September Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index came in flat at 0 vs est of -1 and a large improvement over August’s reading of -8
Consumer Sentiment: The final revised September U of M Consumer Sentiment Index tanked at 58.6 vs est of 59.5.
Consumer Confidence: The Conference Board’s September reading was much higher than expected hitting a very high 108.0 vs est of 104.3.
