Economic News - September 4, 2008

Jobless Claims - September 4, 2008

• Initial Claims: 444,000


• Change from Last Week: Up 15,000

Money Supply - September 4, 2008

• M1 Seasonally Adjusted Prior Month: $1401.0 billion


• M1 Annual Change (Unadjusted): Up $33 billion


• M2 Seasonally Adjusted Prior Month: $7725.9 billion


• M2 Annual Change (Unadjusted): up $457.2 billion

Monster Employment Index - August 2008

• Index: 159


• Monthly Change: Up 2


• Year-to-year Change: Down 27 Points

Productivity and Costs - 2nd Quarter 2008

• Business Sector Productivity: Up 4.3%


• Nonfarm Business Productivity: Up 4.3%


• Manufacturing Productivity: Down 2.2%

Gustav hangover hasn't hit oil markets yet, strong dollar dominating the picture

The oil markets are breathing such a big sigh of relief from the US
Gulf production emerging relatively unscathed from Hurricane Gustav
that they are taking another down week for inventories in stride. The
strong dollar is also a factor the last several days. Gasoline
inventories also fell again, but the rate of decline has gotten back in
line with seasonal norms and gasoline is back into the low end of the
average range for this time of year.

Mortgage rates down across the board

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM),
15-year FRM, 5-year hybrid Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) and 1-year
ARM rates all fell this week. Freddie Mac’s conforming 1-year ARM is
5.15% down 6/10 of a percent from this time last year and nearly 2%
below the non-conforming rate reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Central Banks focus on inflation, ignore economic weakness

Look for more strength in the US dollar as the European Central Bank,
Bank of England and Bank of Canada all left key interest rate targets
unchanged this week, choosing to focus on the threat of inflation and
ignore mounting evidence of recession.

Productivity Is Revised Higher

Productivity jumped 4.3% in the second quarter, higher than initially estimated,
while labor costs fell, reflecting a mix of employment declines and
export-generated growth.

Indonesia Raises Interest Rate

The key interest rate in Indonesia was raised a quarter point to 9.25%, predicting high inflation for the rest of the year.

Japan's Businesses Cut Spending 7.6% Last Quarter as Material Costs Surged

Japanese business investment fell
more than estimated in the second quarter as oil and commodity
prices surged to a record and the global slowdown damped demand
for the country's exports.

European Banks Face Higher Finance Costs as ECB Tightens Access to Capital

Banks in the U.K., Spain and Ireland
that have relied on the European Central Bank for low-cost funding
will have to pay more as it tightens lending rules.

U.S. Growth Is `Stagnant,' Europe Faces Recession, Conference Board Says The U.S. economy is ``stagnant'' and

Europe is falling into a recession, the Conference Board said
today, warning that central banks won't have much room to cut
borrowing costs amid elevated prices.

U.S. Probably Lost Jobs for an Eighth Month; Jobless Rate Forecast at 5.7% The U.S. probably lost jobs in

August for an eighth consecutive month, raising the risk that
growth will falter in the second half of the year, economists
said before a government report today.

Russia says further cuts Freddie, Fannie holding

SOCHI, Russia, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russia has slightly
further reduced its holdings of U.S. mortgage agencies Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae , central bank's first deputy
chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Friday.