News
Market Watch | ISM manufacturing index surges to 57.1% in July
The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 57.1% last month from 55.3% in June, That was higher than the 56.0% forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
National Journal | The IMF Wants Your Gas to Be More Expensive
Fuel prices don't accurately reflect their environmental impact, the international body says in a new report.
Fox Business | Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Level Since March
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final July reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.8, a touch below the 82.0 estimate and down from the final June reading of 82.5.
Market Watch | Construction spending drops 1.8% in June
Spending on U.S. construction projects fell by 1.8% in June, with the decline coming almost entirely in commercial projects, the government said Friday. Outlays are still up 5.5% from the same time last year, however.
WSJ | Highway-Funding Bill Clears Congress
Senate Passes House Version of Legislation to Fund Highway and Mass-Transit Projects Through May, Acting Hours Before Government Was to Start Cutting Payments to States
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: ‘Operation Choke Point’: A noose for business
Administration beats a retreat from a scheme of intimidation.
Bloomberg | Food-Stamp Decline Shows Low-Income Relief: EcoPulse
Participation in the U.S. government food-stamp program is declining modestly as low-income Americans get some economic reprieve.
Washington Times | LAMBRO: The Obama discount
If Mr. Obama truly believes Americans have never had it so good since he took office, he’s been talking to the wrong people. He’s presided over an underperforming, slow job-growth, declining-income economy, according to just about every available economic measure.
American Enterprise Institute | The little-known FRED charts that reveal the state of the U.S. economy
Currently, we’re down to about two unemployed workers per job opening. That’s great news, even though so many people have left the labor force that the number of unemployed workers doesn’t tell you the whole story of the labor market.
Blogs
WSJ: Real Time Economics | World Income Inequality Even Worse Than Within U.S.: St. Louis Fed
The income gap between rich and poor nations is more severe than the more highly publicized disparities between the top and bottom of the U.S. income ladder, according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
