Weekly Jobless Claims Less Than Expected

Economic Data Summary - Q2 GDP was revised up from +3.3% to +3.8%, marking the strongest quarter of growth since Q3 2023 [2] - Consumption increased significantly from +1.6% to +2.5%, indicating a stronger appetite among U.S. consumers [3] - The Price Index rose by 10 basis points, with headline inflation at +2.1% and core inflation at +2.6% [3] Job Market Insights - Initial Jobless Claims fell to 218K, down 17K from estimates and 64K lower than two weeks ago, reaching the lowest level since mid-summer [4] - Continuing Claims rose slightly to 1.926 million, remaining below 1.94 million for the third consecutive week [5] Manufacturing and Trade Data - August Durable Goods Orders increased by +2.9%, significantly better than the prior month's -2.7% and the consensus estimate of -0.5% [6] - The Advanced U.S. Trade Balance for August showed an improvement to -$85.5 billion from -$102.8 billion [7] - Advanced Retail Inventories remained unchanged, while Advanced Wholesale Inventories decreased to -0.2% [7] Market Expectations - Existing Home Sales for August are forecasted at 3.96 million, a decrease from July's 4.01 million [8] - Costco is expected to report fiscal Q4 results with a projected earnings growth of +12.8% year over year and +8.1% revenue growth [9]