US GDP grew at 1.9% in 2nd qtr., jobless claims rise. Dollar mixed in forex trading. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

July 31, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US GDP grew at 1.9% in 2nd qtr., jobless claims rise. Dollar mixed in forex trading.

The U.S. economy grew in the 2nd quarter of 2008 according to a release today by the U.S. Commerce Department but the economy contracted in the 4th quarter of 2007. The advance estimate report released today showed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the April to June quarter following a 0.9 percent annual rate of USD mixed in Currency Markets growth in the 1st quarter.

The report also showed that the 4th quarter of 2007 contracted by a revised 0.2 percent after previous government estimates had shown 0.6 percent growth. Economic forecasts had expected that the GDP growth would be approximately 2.3 percent for the 2nd quarter.

Exports continued to contribute positively to the GDP numbers as exports of goods and services increased by 9.2 percent in the quarter after increasing by 5.1 percent in the 1st quarter.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department today showed that U.S. personal consumption or consumer spending increased by 1.5 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2008. The 1st quarter spending registered a revised 0.9 percent. The core personal consumption expenditure, which is seen as a measure of inflation and excludes food and energy prices, increased by 2.1 percent in the 2nd quarter following a 2.3 percent increase last quarter. Market forecasts expected that consumption would register 1.4 percent and the expenditure to register 2.0 percent for the quarter.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims jumped in the week that ended on July 26th according to the U.S. Labor Department today. Jobless claims increased by 44,000 workers to a total of 448,000 unemployed workers. A 4-week moving average rose by 11,000 from the prior week to 393,000. Workers continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending July 19th increased by 185,000 workers while a four week moving average of continuing claims grew by 42,750 to 3,174,500.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed in U.S. session forex trading today with mostly sideways trading after early initial declines verses most major currencies and some subsequent pullbacks. The EUR/USD pair saw both up and down pushes today with highs around 1.5700 before pulling back and trading under the 1.5600 level. USD/JPY has fallen below yesterday's close trading close to 107.90 while against most of the other majors the dollar has made small gains or losses.

EUR/USD Chart - EUR/USD settles in trading below 1.5600 in forex trading today. 4Hour Chart, US session, 7-31-08.

EURUSD Currency Chart

tags: usd, currency trading, gdp, employment, spending

Blog Home