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Another 2.44 million Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, more or less in line with market forecasts. 38.6 million people have applied for benefits since the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic in March. While the claims numbers are unprecedented in pre-pandemic times, last week marks the seventh week of consecutive decline from the peak of 6.9 million claims seen in late March.

The manufacturing industry has sunk further as a result of the coronavirus pandemic according to the latest report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index came in at -43.1 vs. - 47.5 expected for May following a reading of -56.6 the month before when the index hit a 40-year low. While business conditions have improved slightly, the pace of recovery is below market expectations.

Federal Reserve officials at the regularly scheduled FOMC meeting ending April 29, the meeting minutes for which were released this afternoon, discussed concerns over the damage already inflicted on the American economy by the current crisis as well as threats to the potential economic recovery and financial system in the months ahead. While committing to full measures of support for the US economy, the committee discussed possibilities of additional easing or stimulus while appearing to rule out others.

Homebuilding in the US fell to the lowest rate in 5 years, according to the housing report released on Thursday by the Commerce Department.  April housing starts plummeted 30.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 last month, the lowest level since 2015. Annually, housing starts fell 29.7%, with declines seen in all four regions.

Hello traders, welcome to our preview of this week’s trading calendar, with a focus on the macroeconomic data and market narratives that are mostly likely to impact gold prices, as well was pricing for the US Dollar and other correlated assets.

Happy Friday, traders! Welcome back to our weekly market wrap, focusing on the news, events, and economic data that had the biggest impact over the last trading days on gold prices as well as the US Dollar and other correlated assets—and may continue to have an impact in the future.

The University of Michigan (UoM) consumer sentiment index came in at 73.7, beating expectations of 65 for May and above the 71.8 reading seen in April. Chief economist for the survey, Richard Curtin, echoed commentary supporting the government stimulus packages which have helped cushion some of the damage from the coronavirus pandemic.

New York manufacturing activity in May recovered slightly from the stunning low seen the month before, which was twice as bad as the worst reading during the Great Recession. The index came in at -48.5 in May vs. -78.2 the month before, remaining deeply contracted. The latest reading was still far worse than the historic drop of the Great Recession, marking the second worst month in recorded history, and employment in manufacturing fell further.

Retail sales in the US saw the steepest monthly plunge in history, dropping below expectations for April. Sales fell 16.4% after dropping 8.3% the month before, beating an already dismal forecast of a 12% plunge. The coronavirus lockdown has dealt a major blow to the retail industry, with brick-and-mortar stores closed down nationwide. With tens of millions of Americans out of work, spending on non-essential items has fallen.

Initial jobless claims came in higher than expected in the week ended May 02, with 2.98 million claims vs. 2.5 million expected and 3.1 million the week before. Continuing claims, which measure the number of people receiving claims after an initial week of aid, came in at 22.8 million, 456,000 higher than the week before.

The Producer price index (PPI), which measures the inflation of prices paid by goods producers, fell 1.3% vs. a decline of 0.2% the month before and a drop of 0.5% expected. The drop in the PPI is the largest since records began in December 2009, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. On an unadjusted basis, the index fell 1.2%, the largest drop since unadjusted demand fell 1.3% in November 2015. Core PPI fell from 1.4% to 0.6%.

The parade of ugly US economic data for the month of April marched on this morning as CPI, the most commonly referenced marker for consumer price inflation, slowed slightly more than expected in the wake of the first full month of the current economic crisis.