August 18, 2019 Based on information collected since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met in July 2019, the findings suggested modest growth in economic activity as the labour market remained strong. The unemployment rate has remained low, while job gains have been solid in recent months. Additionally, there were also indication of an
Date: September 17, 2019 Consumer Price Index – August 2019 The consumer price index for the month of August 2019 increased by 0.8%, following a 1.1% increase in its index for July 2019, according to The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The Consumer Price Index for the month of August rose to 263.1 relative to
Date: September 13, 2019 August’s import prices declined 0.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics after rising 0.1% the previous month. This decrease was mostly attributable to the falling prices in fuel imports while nonfuel goods remained unchanged. Nonetheless, export prices fell 0.6% in August relative to a 0.2% increase the previous month..
Brent Oil Brent oil prices decreased by 0.97% or US$0.59, as prices decreased this week relative to the prior week. Oil traded on September 12, 2019 at a price of US$60.36 per barrel relative to US$60.95 on September 05, 2019. Brent oil began the year at US$54.91 per barrel. Petrojam prices 87 Octane prices decreased
Date: September 9, 2019 Net International Reserves- August 2019 Jamaica’s Net International Reserves (NIR) totaled US$2,936.45 million as at August 2019, reflecting a decline of US$14.90 million relative to the US$2,951.35 million reported as at the end of July 2019 (see figure 1). Changes in the NIR resulted from a decrease in Foreign Assets of US$17.45
Date: September 5, 2019 Nonfarm Business Sector According to a release from U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.3% in the second quarter of 2019, as output increased 1.9% and hours worked decreased 0.4%.” Year over year, from the second quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2019,
September 4, 2019 Goods and Services Trade Deficit The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis indicated that, “the goods and services deficit was $54.0 billion in July, down $1.5 billion from $55.5 billion in June.” July exports ($207.4 billion), were more than June exports by $1.2 billion, whereas, July imports were
Date: September 4, 2019 Government Operations Results for July 2019 For the period of April to July 2019, the GOJ reported Total Revenues & Grants of $202.06 billion, $3.95 billion more than the Government’s projection. Furthermore, year over year, this represents an increase of approximately 10.5% relative to the $182.87 billion recorded for the corresponding
Date: September 3, 2019 According to the latest report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, “In July 2019, compared with June 2019, industrial producer prices rose by 0.2% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.3% in the EU28.” However, in June 2019, prices declined by 0.6% in the euro area
Date: September 2, 2019 In July, personal income rose $23.9 billion (0.1%) in the U.S. according to estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) climbed $44.4 billion (0.3%) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) grew $93.1 billion (0.6%). Real DPI rose 0.1% in July and Real PCE climbed 0.4%. The PCE
