The seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for Total Final Demand unexpectedly increased by 0.3% in November as prices for finished wholesale goods fell by 0.1%, while margins of final services providers were 0.5% higher.
The November 2015 Retail Sales report shows retail sales increased 0.2% for the month as auto sales slid by -0.6% and gasoline sales declined -0.8%. Without autos & parts sales, retail sales increased 0.4%.
The BLS JOLTS report shows very high job openings, just slightly down from September. Actual hiring overall did improve slightly from the previous month and is finally just barely at prerecession levels.
The November unemployment report is another OK type of report. Less people were dropped out of the labor force for the month and the labor participation rate did tick up a tenth of a percentage point from the October 1977 record low. The official unemployment rate did not change and is 5.0%. Overall, this month's report is on the positive side.
The November ISM Manufacturing Survey is truly awful. It shows the manufacturing sector has just gone into contraction. This is after months of warning as growth stuttered. PMI was 48.6%.
If you've been following my posts, you know that I've often attempted to estimate the revisions to GDP before the release. Robert has asked me to evaluate how I've done on those forecasts, which is what this post is about.
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