- Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for August were up 0.6% from the previous month, and were up 2.6% from a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Excluding motor vehicle & parts, retail sales were up 0.7% from the previous month and were up 2.1% from a year ago. Year-to-date, retail sales were down 1.8% from the first eight months of 2019.
- Total manufacturing and trade sales for July increased 3.2% from June, following an 8.6% increase in the previous month, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Inventories increased 0.1%, following a 1.1% decrease in the previous month. The total business inventories/sales ratio was 1.33 in July, compared with 1.39 a year ago.
- Housing starts in August were down 5.1% from the previous month but were up 2.8% from a year ago. Building permits were down 0.9% from the previous month and were down 0.1% from August 2019.
- The current account deficit increased to $170.5 billion in the second quarter, from $111.5 billion in the first quarter, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is the largest deficit recorded since the third quarter of 2008 when it was $178.2 billion. The deficit increased to 3.5% of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.1% in the first quarter.
- The net worth of households and nonprofits rose to $119.0 trillion at the end of second quarter of 2020, compared with $111.3 trillion at the end of the first quarter, and $114.0 trillion at the end of second quarter of 2019.
- Domestic nonfinancial debt expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 25.3% in the second quarter of 2020, compared with an annual rate of 10.6% in the previous quarter.
- Domestic nonfinancial debt outstanding was $59.3 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2020, of which household debt was $16.1 trillion, nonfinancial business debt was $17.6 trillion, and total government debt was $25.6 trillion.
- Unemployment rates were lower in August in 41 states, higher in 2 states, and stable in 7 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All fifty states and the District of Columbia had jobless rate increases from a year earlier. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 40 states in August 2020 and was essentially unchanged in 10 states and the District of Columbia. Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 49 states and the District of Columbia and was essentially unchanged in 1 state.
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