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Representative David Schweikert - Vice Chairman

Weekly Economic Update: October 16 – October 20, 2017

Weekly Economic Update: October 16 – October 20, 2017

CHART OF THE WEEK

 

Pro-Growth Reforms—Why We Need Them.

 

Post War U.S. Economic Expansions

 

Many factors can affect the rate of economic growth, and the conditions prevailing during each of the post-war expansions have varied to be sure, but among the 10 significant ones, the current one is clearly the slowest.

 

Removing artificial obstacles to economic growth is critical and that includes reforming taxes and regulations.

 

LAST WEEK

News & Commentary Weekly Highlights

Wall Street Journal: Tax Reform Will Give Workers a Raise

Economics21: Yes, US Tax Cuts Will Mainly Benefit Those Who … Pay the Most Taxes

CNBC: Consumer confidence soars to highest level since 2004

U.S. News: Debunking Obama's Fiscal Record

 

JEC Releases

Fueling Tomorrow’s Digital Trade Boom

Witnesses Tell JEC That Tax Reform Would Encourage More Business Startups, Hiring

 

Top Economic Indicator Highlights

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) (August 2017)

 

Category (seasonally adjusted levels)

August

July

June

Job Openings (thousands)

6,082

6,140

6,116

Hires (thousands)

5,430

5,521

5,432

Separations (thousands)

5,228

5,362

5,309

 

Job openings, hires, separations

 

Noteworthy: The total number of job vacancies recorded remains elevated above 6 million job vacancies. Historically, the number of hires has always exceeded the number of openings. However, since late 2014 this has changed. A JEC hearing held earlier this year explored reasons and remedies for this situation.

 

Consumer Price Index (September 2017)

 

Category (percentage change from same month last year)

September

August

July

Headline CPI

 2.23%

 1.93%

 1.73%

Core CPI (excludes food and energy)

 1.69%

 1.69%

 1.70%

 

Key Inflation Rate Measures

 

Noteworthy: The core CPI inflation rate was unchanged from last month at 1.69%. The headline CPI inflation rate, which includes food and energy, jumped up to 2.23%. This is likely attributable to hurricanes Harvey and Irma which disrupted the production and distribution of petroleum-products.

 

THIS WEEK

Upcoming Economic Data and Events

Monday

Empire State Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)

 

Tuesday

Business Leaders Survey (8:30am)

Exports/Imports (8:30am)

Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization (9:15am)

 

Wednesday

New Residential Construction (8:30am)

Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations Survey (10:00am)

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Beige Book (2:00pm)

 

Thursday

Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey (8:30am)

Composite Indexes (10:00am)

 

Friday

Existing Home Sales (10:00am)

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