August's trade deficit widened to $105.6bn on record $420.8bn imports, while the services survey's Prices Paid gauge jumped to 74.0, a three-year high. The Fed, meanwhile, is playing down chances of an October rate cut.
Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders highlights a stagflationary ISM services mix, with prices paid at a four-year high even as the headline index cooled below consensus. Source
Tariffs were supposed to do two things: shrink the trade deficit, and shift the cost of higher duties onto foreign exporters rather than US shoppers. This week's data undercut both claims in the same release.
