Trade Deficit

August 4, 2026 The trade deficit for June narrowed by $4.4 billion in June to $73.3 billion after having widened by $23.1 billion in May .  The trade gap was much wider than had been expected in May and remained wide in June, It reduced second quarter GDP growth by...

Car and Truck Sales

August 3, 2026 Unit car and truck sales declined 1.4% in July to $16.3 million after having climbed 1.5% in June. Car sales bounce around a lot from month to monthly but the reality is that car sales have been quite steady.  They have been hovering around the 16.0...

Construction Spending

August 3, 2026 Construction spending (the green bars above) fell 0.1% in June after being unchanged in May.  In the past 12 months it has declined 3.2% Private construction spending (excluding the government sector) declined 0.1% in June after falling 0.2% in May.  In...

GDP

July 30, 2026 The preliminary estimate of first second quarter GDP growth was 1.5% which compares to 2.1% growth in the first quarter.  Growth of 1.5% may seem a bit slow but it is not.  The very volatile change in inventories category subtracted 0.7% from growth in...

Final Sales

July 30, 2026 When the economy is slowing down, firms will accumulate unwanted inventories.   Those inventories still show up in GDP, but they are unsold.  Hence, GDP will be biased upwards.  Similarly, in good times businesses will reduce inventory levels to satisfy...