Economic indicators

New York City’s economy grew 3.3% in the second quarter – more than double the 1.5% growth rate seen in the same period last year, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

The pace of housing starts fell by 4.8% to a 1.155 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, well below expectations for a rise to a 1.220 million pace, data reported by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.

The New York region's service sector activity "picked up," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's August Business Leaders Survey, released Tuesday.

The value of business inventories rose 0.5% in June, as expected by analysts and predicted by an MNI calculation, while business sales were up 0.3%, a Commerce Department report Tuesday showed.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes increased as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index rose to 68 in August from 64 in July.

U.S. import prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, and were down 0.1% excluding fuel prices and flat excluding just petroleum prices.

The value of retail sales rose 0.6% in July, well ahead of expectations for a 0.3% gain, and followed a sharply upward revised 0.3% gain in June, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday morning shows.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity grew strongly in New York State," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday, as the general business conditions index soared to 25.2 in August from 9.8 in July.

Consumers’ inflation expectations held for one-year, but dipped for the three-year horizon, according to the July Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The consumer price index rose a moderate 0.1% in July, below expectations for a 0.2% gain, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

The federal government ran a $42.9 billion deficit in July, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to 244,000 in the August 5 week, compared with expectations for a 240,000 level. There was a small upward revision to the claims level in the previous week.

Final demand PPI fell 0.1% in July, both including and excluding food and energy prices, compared with expectations for 0.2% gains for both, data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

Labor market “activity increased and momentum remained high in July,” as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) grew to 0.51 in July from 0.36 in June, according to the Bank.

The value of wholesale inventories rose 0.7% in June, a small upward adjustment from the 0.6% gain estimated in the advance estimate, while wholesale sales rose 0.7%, their largest increase since February, data released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed.

Second quarter nonfarm productivity rose 0.9% above the 0.8% gain expected, while unit labor costs were up only 0.6% rather than the 1.1% rise expected, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday showed.

The number of open positions rose by 461,000, the most in almost two years, to 6.163 million (estimates were for 5.75 million) from an upwardly revised 5.702 million in May.

Small businesses were more optimistic, as hiring activity increased, according to the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly Small Business Optimism index.

Puerto Rico’s June economic activity declined 0.5% compared to May and 2.1% compared to a year earlier.

Consumer credit increased by $12.4 billion in June to $3.856 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.