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The September 2026 jobs report showed payroll growth of 29,000, an unemployment rate of 4.2%, and wage gains that stayed positive. The mix matters: weak hiring and downward BLS revisions point to cooling demand, but the data still fall short of an outright labor-market break. A labor market that is slowing, not collapsing U.S. job […]

The U.S. trade deficit August 2026 widened even as exports climbed, because imports grew much faster and the change was concentrated in goods. Official data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau showed imports 420.8 billion and exports 315.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. The sharp monthly move does not erase the

BEA said consumer spending August 2026 rose far faster than incomes, suggesting demand was sustained more by a lower saving cushion than by a broad acceleration in pay. The August report showed strong current-dollar PCE spending and a smaller real gain after inflation, while the saving rate 4.1% remained modest by historical standards. For businesses

The GDP third estimate did not describe a new quarter. It showed that later source data made second-quarter growth look firmer than earlier reports suggested. A sharp consumer spending revision, stronger business and housing investment, and a swing in government spending drove the change. The U.S. economy did not suddenly accelerate at the end of

Census Bureau says advance retail and food services sales reached $773.9 billion in August, reversing July’s decline. The rebound points to durable U.S. consumer spending for now, but the data are nominal and arrived alongside slower hiring. What matters next is whether September spending holds up as labor-market momentum softens. A strong headline, with an

Census reported 531,728 seasonally adjusted business applications in August, down 7.8% from July. Projected business formations within four quarters slipped 4.6%, a reminder that EIN applications and future employer startups are not the same thing. The next Census Business Formation Statistics release, covering September 2026, is scheduled for October 14. Americans did file fewer new-business

Census and HUD said sales of new single-family homes rose to a 684,000 annual rate in August, while the median new home price stayed below a year earlier. An 8.5 months supply and a softer year-over-year price reading suggest builders are still working to meet strained housing affordability, not regaining broad pricing power. The key

The August gain answered part of the slowdown question, but official data still show construction running behind 2025 on both a year-over-year and year-to-date basis. Private residential and private nonresidential spending both rose in August, while public construction was nearly flat, suggesting the rebound was broader inside private construction than in government-funded work. The U.S.

The latest durable goods orders August 2026 report showed a flat headline number as transportation equipment orders fell, while orders excluding transportation continued to rise. Census data suggest manufacturing demand was not broadly stalled, but the report also showed why orders should not be read as the same thing as factory output or business investment.

Federal Reserve G.17 data showed total U.S. industrial production was unchanged in August even as manufacturing output fell 0.3%. A 1.8% rise in utilities and a small gain in mining offset factory weakness, while capacity utilization 76.3% signaled slack rather than a uniform downturn. The Federal Reserve’s industrial production August 2026 report answered an apparent