Economic Snapshot: Fed likely to end stimulus efforts

Another light week for economic data as we come out of the holiday stupor.

The biggest news, in fact, came out of the minutes from June’s Federal Open Market Committee, where most of the members seem to be in favor of ending the Fed’s bond-buying program by this fall.

The move is seen as a sign of growing confidence in the economic recovery. Still no word on raising interest rates, although general expectations are that it will happen sometime next year.

Unemployment

One of the few reports out this week showed a decline in weekly unemployment claims, with 304,000 new claims in the week ending July 5 compared to 315,000 the previous week. Those numbers are at what is typically considered a normal rate.

Engine shipments

NMMA reported that engine wholesale shipments were up through June 2014 compared to 2013.

Wholesale shipments were up 6.4 percent year-over-year and retail sales an estimated 7.9 percent.

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