We Just Got a Bunch of Disappointing U.S. Economic Data

by Luke Kawa
11:25 AM EDT
May 21, 2015


Fresh data out today on the U.S. economy throws cold water on hopes for a strong spring economic rebound.

Here's a roundup of some key datapoints we got today.

-Initial jobless claims rose to 274,000 from 264,000 for the week ending May 16. This is slightly above the 270,000 that was expected, though to be fair it is still a very strong number.
-The Markit U.S. Manufacturing PMI showed the sector's growth rate decelerated in May. The reading of 53.8 was three tenths of a point below April's reading, and shy of the consensus estimate of 54.5.
-The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey moderated to 6.7 in May from 7.5, below the projected reading of 8.
-Existing home sales unexpectedly fell by 3.3 percent month-over-month in April, defying expectations for an increase of 0.8 percent.
-The Kansas City Fed's Manufacturing Activity Index showed activity in the district registered a steeper than anticipated decline. The print of -13 missed the estimate of -4 by a substantial margin.
-Consumer expectations for the economy registered their biggest drop since May 2013 according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index

One number that did come in solidly was the latest reading of Leading Economic Indicators, which rose 0.7% in April vs. expectations of 0.3%. That being said, the number doesn't give us much new information. In an email, Neal Dutta of Renaissance Macro explains, "Most of the components of the LEI have already been released so it provides little new information for the markets. We already knew that in April, claims fell, permits rose, equities rallied, and ISM new orders picked up."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/we-just-got-a-bunch-of-disappointing-u-s-economic-data