Economy.com Daily Update: May 4, 2018

Today's Economy

The U.S. labor market is tightening but not overheating.

The second quarter should bring better results.

Job growth was solid, but the unemployment rate fell for wrong reason.

The industry still faces hurdles, mostly from infrastructure concerns.

Commentary

The Fed sees the U.S. economy as being in the sweet spot.

Thursday will bring the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s May meeting.

Predictability and stability are necessary features of Australia’s monetary policy.

China's trade performance remains healthy, although clouds are on the horizon.

Today's Economic Indicators

Malaysia
Foreign Trade
Mar. 2018: MYR14.7 bil
Malaysia's trade surplus widened to MYR14.7 billion in March, following the MYR9 billion surplus recorded in February.

Euro Zone
Retail Sales
Mar. 2018: 0.1%
Retail sales in the euro zone rose by only 0.1% m/m in March, 0.2 percentage point below our expectations, but some good news came from the fact that February’s increase was revised up to 0.3%, from 0.1% previously.

United States
Employment Situation
Apr. 2018: 164,000
As expected payrolls rebounded in April, adding 164,000, slightly below our expectation for the month. The breadth of job creation narrowed.

Russian Federation
Consumer Price Index
Apr. 2018: 0.4%
April Russian inflation accelerated to 0.4% month over month, as measured by the national consumer price index, increasing by 0.1 point from last month.

Canada
Purchasing Managers' Index
Apr. 2018: 71.5
The seasonally adjusted Ivey Purchasing Managers' Index hit 71.5 in April, indicating that, on balance, more firms reported higher purchases than in March.

United States
ECRI Weekly Leading Index
April 27: 150.0
The U.S. economic expansion is on steady footing and prospects are bright for the quarters ahead.

Uruguay
Consumer Price Index
Apr. 2018: 6.5%
Consumer prices continued to decline in April.