by Calculated Risk on 8/31/2022 09:12:00 PM

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for an increase to 250 thousand from 243 thousand last week.

• At 10:00 AM, ISM Manufacturing Index for August. The consensus is for the ISM to be at 52,1, down from 52.8 in July.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Construction Spending for July. The consensus is for a 0.1% decrease in construction spending.

• Late, Light vehicle sales for August. The consensus is for light vehicle sales to be 13.6 million SAAR in August, up from 13.34 million in July (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).

On COVID (focus on hospitalizations and deaths):

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
New Cases per Day2	88,286	90,064	≤5,0001
Hospitalized2	31,517	33,640	≤3,0001
Deaths per Day2	383	423	≤501
1my goals to stop daily posts, 27-day average for Cases, Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing 7-day average week-over-week for Cases, Hospitalized, and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the daily (columns) and 7-day average (line) of deaths reported.

Average daily deaths bottomed in July 2021 at 214 per day.