COVID-19 UPDATE
The recent surge in COVID-19 cases indicates that elected officials re-opened the economy too soon, that too many Americans are flaunting social distancing guidelines, and that the virus is likely to be around longer than we’d hoped. On July 14, the U.S. recorded nearly 59,000 new cases, up from 22,000 cases on June 14. Texas logged 10,745 cases that day, Houston nearly 2,600 cases. That’s a five fold increase over the month for the state and the metro area.
Business Closures
The popular website Yelp.com publishes crowd-sourced reviews on local restaurants, retailers, entertainment venues and personal services. Yelp reports that 177,000 U.S. business on its site were closed between March 1 and April 19. As of June 15, only 37,000 had reopened. In Houston, the pandemic forced the closure of 3,518 Yelp businesses, of which only 578 had re-opened by mid-June.
The Outlook
The current recession can no longer be seen as a brief shutdown in which Congress passes enough safety nets and stimulus packages to bridge the gap. The number of active business owners in the U.S. plummeted by 3.3 million or 22 percent in March and April.
Though the nation has recouped some of the jobs lost in March and April, there are still 16.6 million unemployed workers in the U.S.
HOUSTON EMPLOYMENT UPDATE
Metro Houston added 73,800 jobs in May, a record for any month. The jump came as Governor Greg Abbott issued orders reopening the state’s economy early in the month. Despite the surge, local employment remains 276,400 jobs below its February pre-COVID level. The largest job gains occurred in accommodation and food services, retail and health care. Mining and logging (energy), professional, scientific and technical services, other services, and government continued to lose jobs. Only finance and insurance has returned to its pre-COVID employment level.
Crude Oil
The closing spot price for West Texas Inter-mediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark for light, sweet crude, averaged $39.22 per barrel the last week of June ’20, down 32.8 percent from $58.38 for the same period in ’19.
Home Sales
Houston realtors sold 9,238 single-family homes in June ’20, up 15.7 percent from 8,063 in June ’19. The average price for a single-family home sold in June was $319,881, down 0.6 percent from $321,884 a year earlier. The month ended with 11,610 pending sales, a 39.3 percent increase over June ’19.
Rig Count
Baker Hughes reports 258 drilling rigs working in the U.S. during the first week of July ’20. That’s down 700 rigs, or 73.1 percent, from the same week in July ’19.
Unemployment
Houston’s unemployment rate fell from 14.2 in April to 13.9 in May. It had been as low as 3.9 percent in February.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 19 May 2023
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / May 23, 2023
Economic data continue to suggest the U.S. economy is only gradually losing momentum. Consumers continue to spend, and industrial and housing activity are seeing some stabilization.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 01 December 2023
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Dec 05, 2023
U.S. data released this week indicates the economic expansion remains alive even as inflation continues to slow. The year-ago rates of headline and core PCE inflation were the lowest since March 2021 and April 2021, respectively.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 10 November 2022
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Nov 11, 2022
Relief in October inflation gives the FOMC the ability to slow the pace of rate hikes ahead. But make no mistake, the Fed\'s job of taming inflation remains far from over.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 17 July 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Jul 18, 2020
Two countervailing themes competed for attention this week in financial markets. The first is that for the most part, economic data continue to surprise to the upside and do not yet rule out prospects for that elusive V-shaped recovery.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 10 September 2021
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Sep 13, 2021
Data from the opening weekend of College Football indicates that we will have to endure another season of Nick Saban deification.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 08 November 2019
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Nov 09, 2019
Optimism soared this week on hopes of a forthcoming trade deal, as equity markets hit all-time highs and the yield curve steepened.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 14 February 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Feb 15, 2020
Retail sales increased for a fourth straight month in January, underscoring the resiliency of the U.S. consumer. Fundamentals are solid and support our expectations for healthy consumer spending gains in coming months.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 30 April 2021
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / May 18, 2021
The gain in output leaves the level of real GDP just a stone\'s throw below its pre-COVID Q4-2019 level (see chart).
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 21 February 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Feb 22, 2020
Minutes from the January 28-29 FOMC meeting indicate the coronavirus will not push the Fed to cut interest rates, and for the most part housing and manufacturing survey data this week supported that view.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 30 July 2021
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Aug 11, 2021
Despite a few misses on the headline numbers, economic data this week highlighted a theme of demand continuing to outstrip supply and ongoing slack in the labor market.
