Copper is crashing, Europe is dithering, China is looking shaky and markets are sliding, but there were three slivers of sunshine from the U.S., data showing that the world’s largest economy may be more resilient than first thought:
- American jobless claim data is encouraging – The United States Department of Labor announced today that unemployment claims dropped by 37,000 to 391,000, the lowest number since the spring. If the U.S. economy was heading into a recession, the jobless claims number should be higher. Analysts were expecting claims to come in at 420,000.
- GDP numbers are up – The U.S. grew its GDP at 1.3% in the second quarter, up from a previous estimate of 1.0%. Export growth and consumer spending were stronger than expected.
- Housing prices may be stabilizing – The S&P/Case-Shiller index beat analysts estimate to the upside. Home prices declined 4.1 percent rather than a expected 4.4 percent.
Market pessimism is real, but as Stephen Stanley at Pierpont Securities LLC told
Bloomberg: “I want to move my figures downward, but the data won’t let me.”
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