US GDP contracts in 3rd Qtr, weekly jobless claims steady. Dollar gains in Fx Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

October 30, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US GDP contracts in 3rd Qtr, weekly jobless claims steady. Dollar gains in Fx Trading.

The U.S. economy contracted in the 3rd quarter of 2008 according to a release by the U.S. Commerce Department. The advance estimate report released today showed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product contracted at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the July to September quarter following a 2.8 percent annual rate of growth in the 2nd quarter and a 0.9 percent USD gains in FX Trading GDP rise in the 1st quarter. The GDP numbers, despite their decrease, surpassed economic forecasts expecting a contraction of 0.5 percent for the quarter.

Contributing largely to the decreased GDP for the 3rd quarter was a decline in consumer spending which makes up approximately two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Consumer spending also known as the personal consumption expenditure fell by 3.1 percent in the quarter after increasing by 1.2 percent in the 2nd quarter and fell to its lowest reading since the 2nd quarter of 1980. Core consumer spending, excluding food and energy, increased by 2.9 percent for the quarter after a 2.2 percent rise in the 2nd quarter.

Exports contributed positively to the GDP numbers as exports of goods and services increased by 5.9 percent in the quarter after increasing by 12.3 percent in the 2nd quarter. Imports declined in the 3rd quarter by 1.9 percent following a decline of 7.3 percent in the 2nd quarter. The advance GDP data is subject to revision as preliminary and final versions are released at later dates. The preliminary version is scheduled for November 25th 2008.

Weekly Jobless Claims are unchanged.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims held steady in the week that ended on October 25th according to a separate report by the U.S. Labor Department today. Jobless claims were unchanged from the week prior at a total of 479,000 unemployed workers. A 4-week moving average fell by 5,000 from the prior week to 475,500. Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending October 18th decreased by 12,000 workers while a four week moving average of continuing claims grew by 28,000 to 3,709,500.

Dollar rises in fx trading today.

The U.S. dollar has been rising in fx trading today as it has gained against the euro, pound, yen, loonie, aussie, kiwi and Swiss franc. The EUR/USD has tumbled today from its 1.3234 opening(00:00 GMT) to trading at 1.2917 in the afternoon of the U.S. trading session at 1:25pm ET. The GBP/USD, meanwhile, has almost fallen today by over 200 pips from its 1.6585 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.6370 later today. The dollar has advanced verses the Japanese yen and trading at 98.16 after opening at 97.40. The USD/CAD is back over the 1.2100 threshold today and trading at the exchange rate of 1.2193. The USD/CAD has gained over 200 pips from its 1.1953 opening. The dollar has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.1421 while also gaining against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6722 while the NZD/USD trades at 0.5862 today after two days of gains by the aussie and kiwi against the greenback.

USD/JPY Chart - The US Dollar gaining today against the Japanese Yen in FX Trading(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: gdp, gross domestic product, jobless claims, fx trading

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