{"id":11909,"date":"2023-01-19T10:10:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T18:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/weak-retail-sales-manufacturing-signal-cooling-economy\/"},"modified":"2023-01-19T10:10:51","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T18:10:51","slug":"weak-retail-sales-manufacturing-signal-cooling-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/weak-retail-sales-manufacturing-signal-cooling-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Weak retail sales, manufacturing signal cooling economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/files\/membership-default-internal\/\" class=\"memberhide\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/01\/20220718_175041000_iOS.jpg\" alt=\"-\"><\/a><br\/><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Retail sales declined 1.1% last month and factory output fell 1.3%, bolstering forecasts of recession this year as the Federal Reserve presses on with the most aggressive monetary tightening in four decades.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Businesses \u201cgenerally expect little growth in the months ahead,\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/monetarypolicy\/publications\/beige-book-default.htm\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>the Fed said Wednesday<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> in its so-called Beige Book compilation of reports from its 12 district banks. Half of the regional banks reported no change or a decline in economic activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>In another sign that the economy is cooling, the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/pdf\/ppi.pdf\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Producer Price Index<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> \u2014 a measure of what suppliers charge \u2014\u00a0rose 6.2% in December from a year earlier in the slowest 12-month pace since March 2021, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The PPI increased at a 7.4% annual rate in November after surging 11.7% in March.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p>T<span><span><span><span><span><span>he reports on the economy Wednesday highlighted how the central bank\u2019s fight against inflation may yield mixed results in the weeks ahead, easing price pressures but slowing economic growth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cCentral bank rate increases have started to have an impact on inflation, but they are also lowering the growth trajectory of the economy,\u201d Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said Tuesday during the company\u2019s fourth quarter earnings call.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cCEOs and boards tell me they are cautious, particularly for the near-term,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cThey are rethinking business opportunities and would like to see more stability before committing to longer term plans. Many firms have started preparing for tougher times focusing on factors within their control.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last month that the central bank will probably continue to increase the federal funds rate early this year until signs emerge of a sustained decline in inflation. Policymakers are especially concerned about wages increases, prompted by an imbalance in the demand and supply of workers, he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWith persistently tight labor markets, wage pressures remained elevated,\u201d the central bank said today, while noting that five of the 12 district banks said such \u201cpressures had eased somewhat.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Businesses \u201creport difficulty in filling open positions,\u201d the Fed said. \u201cMany firms hesitate to lay off employees even as demand for their goods and services slowed and planned to reduce headcount through attrition if needed.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Some retailers said inflation has prompted low- and moderate-income households to reduce spending, the Fed said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Consumer spending, which accounts for nearly 70% of gross domestic product, fell last month even amid holiday gift-giving, the Commerce Department said. Outlays for furniture, autos, clothing and electronics slumped, along with spending at restaurants and bars.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Manufacturing output fell in December for the second straight month, registering the biggest monthly decline since February 2021, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/releases\/g17\/current\/default.htm\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>according to the Fed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Wednesday that inflation has improved more than he expected.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe have seen some slowing of inflation indicators,\u201d he said in a Bloomberg Television interview. \u201cWe need a substantial amount of disinflation that goes beyond volatile components receding, but you have to recognize that the figures are better than somebody like me would have expected three months ago.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5143531171910809\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- News - Bottom -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5143531171910809\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8320848692\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/weak-retail-sales-manufacturing-cooling-economy-recession-inflation\/640720\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dive Brief: Retail sales declined 1.1% last month and factory output fell 1.3%, bolstering forecasts of recession this year as &#8230; <a title=\"Weak retail sales, manufacturing signal cooling economy\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/weak-retail-sales-manufacturing-signal-cooling-economy\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Weak retail sales, manufacturing signal cooling economy\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}