Full text of U.S. Financial Data : July 27, 2000

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July 27, 2000

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ The employment cost index (ECI) measuring compensation costs
for private-industry workers rose 1.1 percent for the three months
ending in June. This increase was 0.4 percentage points slower
than the 1.5 percent gain seen during the first three months of
the year. Private-industry benefit costs, after rising 2.3 percent
during the first quarter, rose 1.2 percent during the second quarter.
Similarly, wages and salaries increased 1 percent during the
second quarter after rising 1.2 percent during the first quarter.
Measured from a year earlier, the ECI has increased 4.6 percent.
■ After rising 7 percent in May, the advance report for manufacturers’
new orders for durable goods surged 10 percent, or $22.1 billion,
in June. The June increase, which mostly reflected a $20.8 billion
jump in new orders for transportation equipment, was the largest
since July 1991. For the second quarter, new orders for durable
goods rose 4.3 percent, besting the 2.9 percent increase posted
during the first quarter.
■ According to the Conference Board, the index of consumer confidence
rose 2.5 percentage points in July to 141.7 percent (1985=100).
July’s reading was 1 percentage point above the average of the
first two quarters of the year.
■ Sales of existing homes remained above 5 million units for the third
month in the past four, totaling 5.23 million units at an annual rate
in June. The June sales pace was the strongest in 10 months.

All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
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