Benchmark Revision Added 95,000 Jobs to March 2017 Payrolls

Amidst Narrowed Revisions, July 2017 Real Merchandise Trade Deficit Widened;
Most-Recent Four Quarters of Real Deficit to Second-Quarter 2017 Were
Worst Since 2007; With That Trend Continuing into Early Third-Quarter

August 2017 Unemployment Rates Notched Higher:
U.3 Rose to 4.44% versus 4.35%, U.6 Rose to 8.59% versus 8.57%, and the
ShadowStats-Alternate Rose to 22.2% versus 22.1%

August Household Survey Employment Declined by 74,000 (-74,000);
Full-Time Jobs Dropped by 166,000 (-166,000)

Weaker-Than-Expected August Payroll Jobs Gain of 156,000 was
Just 115,000 Net of the July Revisions, Within Range of Statistical Insignificance

August Payroll and Full-Time Employment Annual Growth Rates
Dropped to 1.45% and 1.16%, Levels Common at the Onset of Recessions

Deepening Real Annual Decline in July 2017 Construction Spending
Continued in a Manner Last Seen During the 2006 Housing Collapse,
Despite Upside Revisions to May and June Activity

Shy of Recovering Its Pre-Recession Peak by 23.1% (-23.1%),
Real Construction Spending Continued in Intensifying Downtrend

Faltering Economic Activity and Intensifying Political Discord
Increasingly Peril the Dollar and Intensify Risks of Market Turmoil