No. 930-A: December Labor, Private Surveying and M3, November Trade Deficit and Construction Spending
Annual Household Survey Revisions Were Negligible for Headline U.3, but
Not as Placid for Broader Unemployment and Other Measures
December 2017 Unemployment Rates Were Mixed Month-to-Month:
U.3 Eased to 4.07% from 4.12%, U.6 Rose to 8.08% from 7.99%, and the
ShadowStats-Alternate Held at 21.7%
Low-Level Annual Payroll Growth Continued to Signal a New Recession
Private Surveying of December Labor Conditions Showed Monthly Gains, but with
Annual Contraction/No Growth and Ongoing Non-Expansion
Trade Deficit Widened Month-to-Month and Year-to-Year with the
Fourth-Quarter 2017 Real Merchandise Trade Deficit Still on Solid Track for
Worst Showing Since First-Quarter 2007
Despite a November Gain on Top of Upside Revisions, Real Construction Spending
Continued in Annual Decline, as Last Seen During the 2006 Housing Collapse,
Still Shy of Recovering Its Pre-Recession Peak by 21.4% (-21.4%)
December 2017 M3 Annual Growth Jumped Back to a Two-Year High of 4.8%, as
Monetary-Base Annual Growth Jumped to a Three-Year High of 9.3%