To: Lee who wrote (32144 ) 7/6/2000 10:09:56 AM From: Lee Respond to Economic Data for Thursday, July 6, 2000Factory Orders for May = +4.1% census.gov New orders for manufactured goods in May increased $15.3 billion or 4.1 percent to $385.8 billion, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census reported today. This follows a 3.8 percent April decrease and is the largest increase since December 1992. Shipments increased $7.1 billion or 1.9 percent to $380.1 billion, following a 1.2 percent April decrease. Unfilled orders increased $5.6 billion or 1.0 percent to $557.1 billion, following a 0.5 percent April decrease. Inventories increased $0.8 billion or 0.2 percent to $478.7 billion, following a 0.4 percent April increase. This is the eighth increase in the last nine months. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.26, down from 1.28 in April. Weekly Jobless Claims = -12k to 296k dol.gov In the week ending July 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 296,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 308,000. The 4-week moving average was 301,500, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 305,750. LEI for May = -0.1% tcb-indicators.org The leading index decreased by 0.1 percent, the coincident index increased by 0.2 percent, and the lagging index increased by 0.2 percent in May. Taken together, the three composite indexes and their components point to sustained expansion but not at the rapid pace we saw in the beginning of the year:
