US: Decent economic releases suggest economy recovering at moderate pace – ANZ

The research team at ANZ points out that US data released overnight was largely in line with estimates, including revisions to previous releases, suggesting the economy continues to expand at a moderate pace with the labour market continuing to tighten.

Key Quotes

“Non-farm productivity fell 0.6% in Q1, underscoring the weakness in the first quarter, while unit labour costs rose 3.0%, from 1.3% in Q4. Weekly labour indicators continue to point towards a tightening of the labour market with initial jobless claims falling to 238k and continuing claims at 1964k. Factory orders were up 0.2% while durable goods orders rose 0.9%.”