After climbing sharply last week to a five-month high, spot iron ore ticked down slightly this week. Spot iron ore pricing ended the week at $120.90/mt, down from $123.95/mt a week ago. This remains the highest price for iron ore since early-April.
After contracting sharply in August, manufacturing activity from the New York region increased slightly in September. The September Empire Manufacturing Index came in at 1.9, up from -19.0 in August. The index has now increased in three of the last four months.
After slipping in July, U.S. light vehicle sales rebounded slightly in August. August U.S. light vehicle sales totaled 1.313 million units, up 1.0% from July and up 15.7% from 1.127 million units in August 2022. The increase in total sales in August came from both light trucks and imported vehicles, which climbed 1.7% and 5.3%, respectively.
Total construction spending continued to climb in July and is now up for the seventh consecutive month. Total spending came in at a $1.973 trillion rate in July, up 0.7% from June and up 5.5% from the $1.869 trillion rate in July 2022. Spending increased for both residential and non-residential projects in July, with the larger increase coming from residential.
