Overall, the plethora of recently published economic data support our view that, following the very subdued performance in the final quarter of 2015, the US economy is getting back into stride.
At the end of this week the Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish the initial estimate for GDP in the final quarter 2015. The general expectation is that growth will be disappointing.
The jobs report for October surprised on the upside. It not only showed a return to more dynamic jobs growth compared with the preceding two months, hourly wages also picked up markedly to stand 2.5% up on a year earlier.
As expected, the Fed has left its target rate for the federal funds rate at 0-0.25%. At the same time it continues to signal that the first rate hikes could take place this year.
