• Fears about a second-half slowdown kicked into higher gear following the release of the higher-than-expected weekly first-time unemployment figures.
• Industrial production rose 1.0 percent in July, but more recent data from the factory sector point to a substantial slowdown during the second half of the year.
• A pickup in apartment building helped pull housing starts slightly higher in June, but the previous month’s data was revised lower and permits fell 3. 1 percent.

Global Review

• The best description of the international economic data recently is mixed. More countries are releasing second-quarter GDP, and there have been some noticeable surprises both on the upside and downside.
• Japan’s second-quarter GDP was much weaker than expected, prompting us to revise down our forecast for Japanese growth in 2010 and 2011. We now see growth of 2.7 percent in 2010 and 1.3 percent in 2011 for Japan.

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