greenbooks · August 9, 2004
Greenbook/Tealbook
Prefatory Note
The attached document represents the most complete and accurate version available
based on original files from the FOMC Secretariat at the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.
Please note that some material may have been redacted from this document if that
material was received on a confidential basis. Redacted material is indicated by
occasional gaps in the text or by gray boxes around non-text content. All redacted
passages are exempt from disclosure under applicable provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act.
Content last modified 05/27/2010.
Confidential (FR) Class III FOMC
August 6, 2004
CURRENT ECONOMIC
AND FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
Supplemental Notes
Prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee
by the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Contents
The Domestic Nonfinancial Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Labor Market Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Tables
Changes in Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Selected Unemployment and Labor Force Participation
Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Charts
Changes in Private Payroll Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Aggregate Hours of Production or Nonsupervisory
Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Labor Force Participation Rate and Unemployment Rate . 4
Employment-Population Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Job Losers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Domestic Financial Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Tables
Commercial Bank Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Selected Financial Market Quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The International Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
U.S. International Financial Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tables
Summary of U.S. International Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Supplemental Notes
The Domestic Nonfinancial Economy
Labor Market Developments
The slowdown in hiring by private nonfarm businesses continued into July;
employment rose only 32,000 last month, and the level of employment in June
was revised down 51,000.1 Aggregate hours of production or nonsupervisory
workers rose 0.3 percent in July, only partially reversing their June decline.
By industry, manufacturing employment increased 10,000 last month despite a
reported drop of 21,000 in the transportation equipment industry, which the BLS
attributes to an atypical pattern of summer plant shutdowns.2 In the related
wholesale trade industry, employment moved up 8,000 last month, in line with
gains since the start of the year, but temporary help employment was reported to
have edged up only 5,000 after having fallen 11,000 in June. Our contacts in the
staffing industry report that demand for workers in light industrial jobs has
remained strong, and, in contrast to the weak payroll figures, they have been
fairly upbeat about their business prospects going forward. Elsewhere in the
goods producing industries, construction employment was little changed for a
second month after strong increases earlier this year.
In the services producing sector, employment fell in retail trade (-19,000) and
financial activities (-23,000); combined, these industries averaged monthly gains
of 39,000 during the first half of this year. The weakness in retail trade was
widespread, while a drop off in mortgage refinancing activity was likely
responsible for much of the loss in financial activities employment.
Employment in leisure and hospitality services was essentially flat last month
after average increases of 25,000 in the first half of the year. Elsewhere,
employment continued to rise in education and health services (20,000) and
professional and business services excluding temporary help (37,000).
Average weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls rose 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours last month, reversing half of the
previous month’s decline. With last month’s increase, aggregate hours now
stand 0.2 percent above their second-quarter average.
Respondents in the household survey reported a more positive picture of labor
market developments than the one portrayed by the business report. The
1. The downward revisions to the June level of employment were particularly large in the
temporary help and education services industries.
2. Motor vehicle assembly operations during the survey reference week were not evenly
distributed across all manufacturers and did not represent a substantial portion of overall monthly
output. Only 12 percent of total auto and light trucks assembled in July were produced during
that week.
-2-
unemployment rate ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 5.5 percent, while the
labor force participation rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 66.2 percent.
Combining these two measures, the employment to population ratio rose
0.2 percentage point to 66.5 percent, about 1/2 percentage point above the low
point reached last September.
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls moved up 0.3 percent last month. Over the twelve months
ending in July, average hourly earnings increased 1.9 percent compared with an
increase of 2.9 percent over the previous twelve months.
-3-
Changes in Employment
(Thousands of employees; seasonally adjusted)
2004
Measure and sector
2003
Q1
Q2
May
Average monthly change
Nonfarm payroll employment
(establishment survey)
Private
Previous
Manufacturing
Construction
Wholesale trade
Retail trade
Transportation and utilities
Information
Financial activities
Professional and business services
Temporary help services
Nonbusiness services1
Total government
Total employment (household survey)
Memo:
Aggregate hours of private production
workers (percent change)2
Average workweek (hours)3
Manufacturing (hours)
June
July
Monthly change
-5
-1
-1
-48
7
-3
-5
-5
-10
6
23
15
34
-4
168
198
195
195
7
26
8
46
14
-2
7
26
8
59
3
-60
203
211
228
17
20
5
14
10
2
11
71
20
59
-8
244
208
236
263
31
37
4
11
14
4
14
69
28
48
-28
196
78
93
117
-1
3
2
7
16
-2
7
19
-11
42
-15
259
32
32
...
10
4
8
-19
0
-5
-23
42
5
11
0
629
-0.8
33.7
40.4
2.3
33.8
41.0
2.2
33.7
40.9
0.7
33.8
41.1
-0.5
33.6
40.8
0.3
33.7
40.9
1. Nonbusiness services comprises education and health, leisure and hospitality, and "other."
2. Establishment survey. Semiannual data are percent changes from Q4 to Q2. Quarterly data are percent changes from preceding
quarter at an annual rate. Monthly data are percent changes from preceding month.
3. Establishment survey.
... Not applicable.
Changes in Private
Payroll Employment
Thousands
500
500
Aggregate Hours of Production or
Nonsupervisory Workers
106
2002 = 100
106
104
104
102
102
3-month moving average
400
400
300
300
200
200
100
July
0
100
100
98
98
96
96
0
-100
-100
-200
-200
-300
-300
-400
July
100
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
-400
94
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
94
-4-
Selected Unemployment and Labor Force Participation Rates
(Percent; seasonally adjusted)
2004
Rate and group
2003
Q1
Q2
May
June
July
Civilian unemployment rate
16 years and older
Teenagers
20-24 years old
Men, 25 years and older
Women, 25 years and older
6.0
17.4
10.0
5.1
4.6
5.6
16.6
9.6
4.5
4.5
5.6
17.0
9.5
4.5
4.4
5.6
17.2
9.7
4.6
4.2
5.6
16.9
9.8
4.4
4.5
5.5
17.6
9.3
4.4
4.5
Labor force participation rate
Total
Teenagers
20-24 years old
Men, 25 years and older
Women, 25 years and older
66.2
44.5
75.4
75.5
59.6
66.0
43.6
74.7
75.4
59.2
65.9
43.6
75.1
75.2
59.3
65.9
43.9
75.0
75.2
59.2
66.0
43.3
75.1
75.3
59.4
66.2
44.1
75.2
75.4
59.5
Labor Force Participation Rate
and Unemployment Rate
Percent
67.4
Percent
7.0
67.2
6.5
67.0
6.0
Participation rate (left scale)
66.8
5.5
66.6
July
5.0
66.4
4.5
66.2
66.0
65.8
4.0
Unemployment rate (right scale)
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Percent
65.0
64.5
64.5
64.0
64.0
63.5
63.5
63.0
63.0
July
62.5
62.0
62.0
61.5
61.5
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2003
3.5
2004
(Percent of household employment)
Percent
1.4
1.3
1.2
July
1.1
1.0
62.5
61.0
2002
Job Losers
(Less than 5 weeks)
Employment-Population Ratio
65.0
2001
61.0
0.9
0.8
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
0.7
-5Commercial Bank Credit
(Percent change, annual rate, except as noted; seasonally adjusted)
Type of credit
Total
1. Adjusted1
2. Reported
3.
4.
5.
6.
Securities
Adjusted1
Reported
Treasury and agency
Other2
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Loans3
Total
Business
Real estate
Home equity
Other
Consumer
Adjusted4
Other5
Level,
July 2004
($ billions)
2003
Q1
2004
Q2
2004
May
2004
June
2004
July
2004
5.9
5.6
11.2
11.8
10.7
7.4
4.3
-.6
7.8
6.6
.0
2.7
6,320
6,480
8.6
7.3
8.8
5.0
18.0
19.5
24.1
12.4
13.3
2.0
10.2
-10.7
-2.5
-18.2
-12.3
-27.8
3.5
-.1
.1
-.3
-13.3
-3.1
-6.1
1.9
1,734
1,893
1,180
714
4.9
-9.3
11.1
30.8
8.8
5.6
6.0
6.7
8.6
-5.0
10.2
37.8
6.3
11.8
10.6
19.0
9.7
-2.0
19.4
36.7
16.7
4.8
-1.8
-3.7
6.9
-1.5
15.0
33.7
12.0
4.3
-8.3
-8.5
9.5
4.9
5.8
35.3
1.2
4.5
-.1
33.5
5.1
5.0
4.3
35.4
-.8
15.7
15.9
-1.4
4,587
867
2,405
346
2,060
652
1,016
663
Note. Data are adjusted to remove estimated effects of consolidation related to FIN 46 and for breaks caused by reclassifications.
Monthly levels are pro rata averages of weekly (Wednesday) levels. Quarterly levels (not shown) are simple averages of monthly levels.
Annual levels (not shown) are levels for the fourth quarter. Growth rates are percentage changes in consecutive levels, annualized but
not compounded.
1. Adjusted to remove effects of mark-to-market accounting rules (FIN 39 and FAS 115).
2. Includes private mortgage-backed securities, securities of corporations, state and local governments, foreign governments, and
any trading account assets that are not Treasury or agency securities, including revaluation gains on derivative contracts.
3. Excludes interbank loans.
4. Includes an estimate of outstanding loans securitized by commercial banks.
5. Includes security loans and loans to farmers, state and local governments, and all others not elsewhere classified. Also includes
lease financing receivables.
-6-
III-T-1
Selected Financial Market Quotations
(One-day quotes in percent except as noted)
2003
Change to Aug. 5 from
selected dates (percentage points)
2004
Instrument
June 24
Dec. 31
June 29
Aug. 5
2003
June 24
2003
Dec. 31
2004
June 29
Short-term
FOMC intended federal funds rate
1.25
1.00
1.00
1.25
.00
.25
.25
Treasury bills 1
3-month
6-month
0.81
0.82
0.93
1.00
1.36
1.71
1.45
1.71
.64
.89
.52
.71
.09
.00
Commercial paper (A1/P1 rates)2
1-month
3-month
0.95
0.91
1.00
1.05
1.31
1.48
1.47
1.63
.52
.72
.47
.58
.16
.15
Large negotiable CDs 1
1-month
3-month
6-month
0.96
0.93
0.92
1.06
1.09
1.16
1.32
1.56
1.88
1.53
1.67
1.91
.57
.74
.99
.47
.58
.75
.21
.11
.03
Eurodollar deposits 3
1-month
3-month
0.94
0.91
1.04
1.07
1.29
1.53
1.51
1.64
.57
.73
.47
.57
.22
.11
Bank prime rate
4.25
4.00
4.00
4.25
.00
.25
.25
Intermediate- and long-term
U.S. Treasury4
2-year
10-year
30-year
1.14
3.46
4.53
1.83
4.40
5.22
2.84
4.85
5.50
2.64
4.57
5.31
1.50
1.11
.78
.81
.17
.09
-.20
-.28
-.19
U.S. Treasury 10-year indexed note
1.70
2.00
2.19
1.96
.26
-.04
-.23
Municipal revenue (Bond Buyer) 5
4.89
5.04
5.37
5.24
.35
.20
-.13
Private instruments
10-year swap
10-year FNMA6
10-year AA 7
10-year BBB 7
5-year high yield 7
3.67
3.84
4.13
5.16
8.95
4.66
4.72
5.05
5.74
7.94
5.22
5.29
5.54
6.14
8.31
4.89
4.92
5.26
5.87
8.06
1.22
1.08
1.13
.71
-.89
.23
.20
.21
.13
.12
-.33
-.37
-.28
-.27
-.25
Home mortgages (FHLMC survey rate) 8
30-year fixed
1-year adjustable
5.21
3.51
5.81
3.73
6.25
4.13
6.08
4.17
.87
.66
.27
.44
-.17
.04
Record high
2003
Change to Aug. 5
from selected dates (percent)
2004
Stock exchange index
Dow-Jones Industrial
S&P 500 Composite
Nasdaq
Russell 2000
Wilshire 5000
Level
Date
Dec. 31
June 29
Aug. 5
Record
high
2003
Dec. 31
2004
June 29
11,723
1,527
5,049
606
14,752
1-14-00
3-24-00
3-10-00
4-5-04
3-24-00
10,454
1,112
2,003
557
10,800
10,413
1,136
2,035
588
11,084
9,963
1,081
1,822
532
10,472
-15.01
-29.25
-63.92
-12.21
-29.01
-4.70
-2.81
-9.07
-4.41
-3.03
-4.33
-4.88
-10.48
-9.44
-5.52
1. Secondary market.
2. Financial commercial paper.
3. Bid rates for eurodollar deposits collected around 9:30 a.m. Eastern time.
4. Derived from a smoothed Treasury yield curve estimated using off-the-run securities.
5. Most recent Thursday quote.
6. Constant maturity yields estimated from Fannie Mae domestic noncallable coupon securities.
7. Derived from smoothed corporate yield curves estimated using Merrill Lynch bond data.
8. For week ending Friday previous to date shown.
_______________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
June 24, 2003, is the day before the most recent policy easing.
June 29, 2004, is the day before the most recent FOMC meeting.
_______________________________________________________________________
-7-
The International Economy
U.S. International Financial Transactions
Private foreign purchases of U.S. securities (line 4 of the Summary of U.S.
International Transactions table) were very strong in June, bringing second
quarter inflows to $128 billion, similar to the elevated pace of the first quarter.
In June, private inflows into Treasury securities (line 4a) and corporate bonds
(line 4c) were particularly strong while inflows into equities (line 4d) remained
tepid. This year’s pattern has been rather consistent, with near zero purchases of
equities but very strong inflows into corporate bonds and Treasury securities or,
alternately, agency bonds (line 4b) .
Net foreign official inflows (line 1) picked up to $35 billion in June, following
inflows of roughly $20 billion in both April and May.
. Partial data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York (FRBNY) suggest a slowing of foreign official inflows in July.
Following modest net sales in May, U.S. investors acquired $15 billion in
foreign securities (line 5) in June. As in previous months, purchases of foreign
equities were relatively robust, totaling $9 billion. In a shift, U.S. investors
purchased a significant amount of foreign bonds ($6 billion) for the first time in
years.
The banking sector (line 3) recorded modest outflows in June, following
similarly sized inflows in May.
-8Summary of U.S. International Transactions
(Billions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted except as noted)
Official financial flows
1. Change in foreign official assets
in the U.S. (increase, +)
a. G-10 countries
b. OPEC countries
c. All other countries
2. Change in U.S. official reserve
assets (decrease, +)
Private financial flows
Banks
3. Change in net foreign positions
1
of banking offices in the U.S.
Securities2
4. Foreign net purchases of U.S.
securities (+)
a. Treasury securities
b. Agency bonds
c. Corporate and municipal bonds
d. Corporate stocks 3
5. U.S. net acquisitions (-) of foreign
securities
a. Bonds
b. Stock purchases
3
c. Stock swaps
Other flows (quarterly data, s.a.)
6. U.S. direct investment (-) abroad
7. Foreign direct investment in U.S.
8. Foreign holdings of U.S. currency
9. Other (inflow, + )4
U.S. current account balance (s.a.)
Capital account balance (s.a.)
Statistical discrepancy (s.a.)
5
2002
2003
113.0
2003
2004
Q2 May
Q3
Q4
Q1
247.3
50.1
85.9
128.6
75.2
18.8
34.8
116.7
30.7
-7.5
93.5
245.8
115.7
6.1
124.0
50.8
15.9
2.1
32.8
83.7
47.3
10.5
25.9
128.0
95.5
3.7
28.8
74.0
45.6
-2.3
30.7
18.6
15.4
.4
2.9
34.7
20.9
-4.4
18.1
-3.7
1.5
-.6
2.2
.6
1.1
.1
.2
457.2
298.5
75.9
82.8
29.7
n.a.
…
…
116.8
64.3
25.4
101.5
-44.4
22.2
23.6
-15.0
390.1
101.5
84.2
145.7
372.8
121.2
-14.8
226.1
65.5
46.7
-31.1
52.5
92.3
8.8
2.2
57.6
128.9
65.8
6.8
51.3
127.6
36.0
38.5
51.5
28.9
8.3
12.3
16.2
54.1
22.6
6.3
22.9
58.8
40.3
-2.5
23.6
5.0
1.7
-7.8
2.4
15.5
33.5
-14.8
-64.6
36.6
-83.7
-24.3
6.3
-30.6
-22.3
-2.9
-16.6
-15.1
6.6
-21.7
-31.8
7.1
-27.8
1.8
8.6
-6.8
-14.8
-6.2
-8.6
-3.2
-17.4
.0
-2.8
.0
-11.1
.0
.0
-134.8 -173.8
72.4
39.9
21.5
16.6
-24.4
43.3
-45.2
-2.8
2.8
54.6
-53.7
10.7
7.5
-53.2
-57.2
18.0
-1.8
1.4
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
-473.9 -530.7 -131.6 -127.0 -144.9
n.a.
…
…
n.a.
…
…
-1.3
-95.0
-3.1
-12.0
-.8
6.4
-.3
-41.4
-.3
-13.1
June
n.a.
NOTE: Data in lines 1 through 5 differ in timing and coverage from the balance of payments data published by the Department
of Commerce. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.
1. Changes in dollar-denominated positions of all depository institutions and bank holding companies plus certain transactions
between broker-dealers and unaffiliated foreigners (particularly borrowing and lending under repurchase agreements). Includes
changes in custody liabilities other than U.S. Treasury bills.
2. Includes commissions on securities transactions and therefore does not match exactly the data on U.S. international transactions
published by the Department of Commerce.
3. Includes (4d) or represents (5c) stocks acquired through mergers.
4. Transactions by nonbanking concerns and other banking and official transactions not shown elsewhere plus amounts resulting
from adjustments made by the Department of Commerce and revisions in lines 1 through 5 since publication of the quarterly data in
the Survey of Current Business
5. Consists of transactions in nonproduced nonfinancial assets and capital transfers.
n.a. Not available. ... Not applicable.
Cite this document
APA
Federal Reserve (2004, August 9). Greenbook/Tealbook. Greenbooks, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/greenbook_20040810_part3
BibTeX
@misc{wtfs_greenbook_20040810_part3,
author = {Federal Reserve},
title = {Greenbook/Tealbook},
year = {2004},
month = {Aug},
howpublished = {Greenbooks, Federal Reserve},
url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/greenbook_20040810_part3},
note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}