June Producer Price Index, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, JPMorgan Chase
July 14, 2016
Thursday – July 14
The June Producer Price Index (PPI), wholesale inflation, rose 0.5% versus the 0.3% expected, while Core PPI increased 0.4%, above the 0.1% expected. The year-over-year PPI was up 0.3%, the first annual increase since the end of 2014. The jump was due in part to rising oil prices and higher margins for financial services, reported the Labor Department. The Federal Reserve will be closely watching these wholesale inflation numbers as well as tomorrow’s inflation reading Consumer Price Index.
The Labor Department reported on Thursday that Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits continue to hover near multi-decade lows after the strong June payroll numbers. The job market is in solid footing. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims remained at 254,000, below the 265,000 expected. Claims have remained below the 300,000 threshold for 71 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch since 1973.
In corporate earnings news, banking giant JPMorgan reported strong earnings in the latest quarter helped by loan growth and a tight control on operating expenses. The bank reported earnings per share of $1.55 easily beating the average analyst estimate of $1.43 per share. The bank also reported better-than-expected revenue of $25.2 billion. “JPMorgan Chase continued to perform well in all of our major businesses,” CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement Thursday morning. “Outside of energy, both wholesale and consumer credit quality remained very good.”
