Monthly construction spending was unchanged in May vs April at an annual rate of $1,230.1 billion, but was up +4.5% vs May 2016. Year to date construction spending is $469.2 billion, up 6.1% from the same period in 2016. Private construction, which makes up three quarters of the total, dropped -0.6% in May, and public construction increased +2.1%. Half of the drop in private construction was due to a -0.6% drop in residential construction.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by $1.1 billion in May to $46.5 billion due to a $0.2 billion drop in imports and a $0.9 billion increase in exports. The trade deficit for goods dropped due partially to increasing exports and decreasing imports for both consumer goods and automotives. Year over year, the deficit increased by $7.4 billion, with a $17.6 billion increase in imports outpacing a $10.2 billion increase in exports.

A higher than expected 222,000 new jobs were created in June, but an increase in the number of job seekers brought the unemployment rate up +0.1% to 4.4%. Jobs were primarily created in health care (37,000), professional and business services (35,000), food services (29,000), social assistance (23,000), financial activities (17,000), and mining (8,000). Despite the tightening of the labor pool, wage growth remains sluggish, with hourly pay increasing +0.2% to $26.25/hour, and up only +2.5% in the past 12 months.