Ken Simonson

Employment by state, seasonally adjusted, rose in all but four states from July 2003 to July 2004, and 49 states lowered their unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.

The producer price index (PPI) for finished goods rose 0.1% in July, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today, as the steepest drop in food prices in a decade (-1.6%) virtually canceled out the impact of a 2.3% jump in energy prices.

Real (net of inflation) gross domestic product grew at a 3% seasonally adjusted annual rate from the first quarter to the second, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported.

Nonfarm payroll employment inched up 32,000 (0.02%), seasonally adjusted, in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.

The producer price index for finished goods (PPI) advanced 0.8% in May, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced.

DataDIGest

Building permits, a reliable indicator of near-term housing construction, rose at a 1.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate from February to March

Construction was one of five industries reporting the highest rates of business activity, inventory increases, and price increases.

The value of new construction contracts signed in December dropped 2% to a $533 billion SAAR, McGraw-Hill Construction reported Thursday.

Construction employment rose for the 10th straight month, by 14,000 to 6,873,000, breaking the record set in March 2001.