Initial Jobless Claims Remain low,

Initial Jobless Claims (week ended 8/6/2016)

– New Claims seasonally adjusted 266,000. Previous was 267,000
– New Claims unadjusted, totaled 231,356 an increase of 12,173 from previous
– 4-week Moving Average 262,750. Previous was 259,750

Jobless Claims remain near historic lows. Reading Jobless Claims as a surrogate for the economy is no longer and easy task. We continue to add jobs but these jobs have lower Worker
Productivity (GDP/hour worked.) Unless we have GDP growth we will not be able to generate tax receipts necessary to sustain the high level of government spending or service business debt.

 
Import and Export Prices (July 2016)

– Import Prices month/month +0.1%. Previous was +0.6%
– Export Prices month/month +0.2%. Previous was +0.8%
– Import Prices year/year -3.7%. Previous was -4.8 %
– Export Prices year/year -3.0%. Previous was -3.5%

Soft Export Prices are indicative of slowing worldwide economic growth.