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Daily Roundup of Key US Economic Data for July 8

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May wholesale inventories were revised down to a 0.1% increase from a 0.3% gain in the advance reading.

At the same time, wholesale sales increased by 3.4%, much more than expected, led by a price-related surge in petroleum prices.

Combined with already released data for the retail and factory levels of distribution, business inventories are on track for a 0.3% gain while business sales are tracking up 2.1%. Both will be released on July 16, when updated retail inventory and sales estimates will be released.

Consumer credit usage fell by $200 million in May after a $20.8 billion gain in April, with revolving credit use down and nonrevolving credit use rising at a slower rate than in the previous month.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 2.2% drop in mortgage applications in the week ended July 3 after holding roughly steady in the previous week. Refinancing activity and new home applications both declined due to a slight uptick in mortgage rates.

Total crude oil inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week ended July 3, with commercial oil inventories up 3 million barrels and stocks in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve down 6.2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories and distillate inventories both decreased last week.

The Q2 GDP nowcast estimate from the Atlanta Fed is for a 1.3% gain, down from the previous estimate of a 1.4% gain.

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