Members:
Vice President and Chief Economist, Eaton Corporation
filling in for the vacationing NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray
f
or 8/13/2018. The Council of Industry, as member organization of the National Association of Manufacturers is happy to share this report with our members.
Here are some highlights from the report:
"
Respondents to the July survey of senior loan officers of domestic banks indicated that they eased their standards and terms on commercial and industrial (C&I) loans to firms of all sizes and kept commercial real estate (CRE) lending standards relatively unchanged. Banks reported stronger demand for C&I loans by small firms and weaker demand for CRE loans. Despite the Federal Reserve’s tightening to date and the expected two more rate hikes this year, it seems that credit conditions for business outside commercial real estate are still easy—as is nonrevolving consumer credit. In Q2, nonrevolving consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 percent. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 4 percent. In June, consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3 percent, slower than the whole quarter. This could be an early indication of tightening consumer credit conditions, especially in revolving credit.
The JOLTS report addressed data on job openings, hires and separations. In June, job openings were little changed at 6.7 million. Manufacturing job openings increased to 482,000. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.7 million and 5.5 million, respectively. However, in the past 12 months, hires totaled 66.6 million and separations totaled 64.1 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.5 million.
Even though prices have begun to tick up, the inflationary situation remains benign. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.1 percent in June. Over the past 12 months, the all items index rose 2.9 percent before seasonal adjustment."
Read Chad Moutray's Full Report Here.
Harold King
Executive Vice President
The Council of Industry
6 Albany Post Road
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-565-1355
hking@councilofindustry.org
