This page provides a summary of US economic growth for forex traders.  Economic growth is of huge importance in understanding why currencies move.

The first section summarises the most recent data, the second section looks at inflation and interest rates, the third section highlights the trend in the indicators that best correlate with GDP growth.

This page is continually updated so please bookmark it to keep informed about the latest data and trends.  To compare US economic growth with other countries see the pages on Eurozone Economic Growth and UK Economic Growth.

Latest US Economic Growth Data

Summary

US economic growth remains strong in 2018 and the economic growth trends are positive. The consensus estimate is for final US GDP growth of 2.9% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019.

Latest Data

The latest ECRI WLI growth was -0.4 from 0.1 the previous week.

The unemployment rate was 3.7% in September.

The ISM Manufacturing PMI was 59.8 from 61.3 the previous month. The Non-Manufacturing PMI was 61.6 from 58.5 the previous month.

Advance GDP for Q3 2018 was 3.5% q/q (annualized).

Industrial Production grew by 5.1% y/y in September.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 21.1 from 19.0 the previous month. The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 22.2 from 22.9 the previous month.

Inflation and Interest Rates

The central bank is the Federal Reserve.   The Fed targets an inflation level of 2% over the medium term.  It also has a mandate to seek maximum employment. The latest reading of CPI showed inflation at 2.3% y/y, core CPI was 2.2% y/y. In December 2017 the Fed raised its interest rate target to a range of 1.25% to 1.5%.