Dow climbed 147, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ gained 46. The MLP index jumped 3+ to the 182s & the REIT index was off 2+ to the 478s. Junk bond funds edged lower & Treasuries inched higher in price. Oil advanced 1+ to go over 70 & gold was off 1 to 1814.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims last week fell to a pandemic-era low as supplemental unemployment benefits are set to expire. The Labor Dept said that 340K Americans filed for
first-time jobless benefits last week, down 14K from
the prior week, the lowest since Mar 2020. The forecast expected 345K first-time filings. Continuing
claims, meanwhile, declined to a pandemic
low of 2.7M from a downwardly revised 2.9M the week
prior. The forecast called for 2.8M filings. Almost
12.2M people received some form of unemployment assistance, an
increase of more than 178K from the previous week. That was less than ½ of the 29.7M that filed a year earlier but well above the 2M in each week prior to the pandemic. The decline in
filings comes as the $300 per week in supplemental unemployment benefits
is set to expire this week. About ½ of the states ended the
additional payments early.
Jobless claims fall to pandemic-era low with some boosted benefits set to expire
Mounting inflationary pressures held back nonresidential construction spending in Jul, according to an Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) analysis of Census Bureau data. Nonresidential construction spending edged up 0.1% in Jul to $787B but was negative when adjusted for inflation. Spending fell on a
monthly basis in 6 of 16 subcategories & was unchanged in 3
categories. Total nonresidential spending was down 4.2% from the year prior. "The
nonresidential construction spending numbers are meaningfully worse
than they initially appear," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. "Higher
materials prices and worsening skills shortages represent primary
culprits," he added. "Many project owners are delaying projects due to
elevated construction service delivery costs." Construction input
prices were 23.1% higher in Jul than the year prior as the combination
of a rebounding economy, supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19,
stimulus measures & labor shortages sent costs soaring. Last
month, prices for steel mill products shot up 10.8%, iron & steel
prices climbed 7.8% & natural gas surged 13.5%. Those products have
seen respective price increases of 109%, 89% & 147% over the
past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices
for other input costs, including fabricated structural metal products
and lumber, were also sharply higher compared with year-ago levels. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at his Jackson Hole symposium
speech last week said inflation at these levels is a "cause for concern"
but reiterated the central bank's belief that the current pressures are
temporary.
Construction dented by inflation
General Motors (GM) is once again significantly cutting production at its North American
plants due to the semiconductor chip shortage, signaling the global
parts problem remains a serious issue for the automotive industry. The
automaker said that it's adding or extending downtimes at 8 plants in the US, Canada & Mexico. Most of the new cuts are
for 2 weeks, while production of its Silverado 1500 & Sierra 1500
full-size pickups in Indiana & Mexico is expected to resume after a
week of downtime on Sep 13. Other
vehicles impacted by the new production cuts range from its Chevrolet & GMC midsize pickups & vans in Missouri to the Chevrolet
Trailblazer in Mexico & crossover production across North America. “Although
the situation remains complex and very fluid, we remain confident in
our team’s ability to continue finding creative solutions to minimize
the impact on our highest-demand and capacity-constrained vehicles,” the
company added. The stock rose 24¢.
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
GM to significantly cut North American vehicle production due to chip shortage
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