[brid video=”67763″ player=”2077″ title=”Hurricane Matthew Goes From Category 1 to Near Category 5″]
In roughly 33 hours, Hurricane Matthew increased from a Category 1 to a near Category 5 storm as it approached the southern and eastern Florida coastline.
In roughly 33 hours, Hurricane Matthew increased
![Florida Gov. Rick Scott, left, declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Matthew, right, which was followed by President Barack Obama. (Photos: AP/National Hurricane Center [NHC])](https://www.peoplespunditdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Hurricane-Matthew-Rick-Scott-NHC.jpg)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, left, declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Matthew, right, which was followed by President Barack Obama. (Photos: AP/National Hurricane Center [NHC])
“While the federal government has just approved our request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration for food, water and tarps, I am asking the President for additional generators and pumps to help with power outages and flooding once the storm hits,” Gov. Scott said in a statement. “Following the most recent weather briefing from the National Hurricane Center, we can expect to have a lot of flooding, especially in Northeast Florida, and we will need additional pumping equipment from the federal government.”
Officials say Hurricane Matthew’s top wind speed hit 140 mph midday and the storm was moving northwest at around 14 mph between Andros Island and Nassau in the Bahamas. Forecasting models predicted the storm could ride up the coast all the way to South Carolina. Local officials told Reuters the death toll from Hurricane Matthew has risen to at least 136 in Haiti, where it passed over before heading toward Florida.
“When a hurricane is forecast to take a track roughly parallel to a coastline, as Matthew is forecast to do from Florida through South Carolina, it becomes very difficult to specify impacts at any one location,” National Hurricane Center forecaster Lixion Avila said.
D: Tropical Depression – wind speed less than 39 MPH
S: Tropical Storm – wind speed between 39 MPH and 73 MPH
H: Hurricane – wind speed between 74 MPH and 110 MPH
M: Major Hurricane – wind speed greater than 110 MPH
The Florida governor made clear that the “time is up” for those in evacuation zones to leave and if you go outside after 8:00 p.m. Thursday, then you are on your own. If you choose to ride the storm out, which you SHOULD NOT, then make sure to have at least three days of food and water on hand.
“This thing is getting close to our coast, you better be ready before,” he said. “If it turns at the last minute, you’re not going to have time to get ready. You’re not going to be able to get your food and water. You’re not going to be able to evacuate. You’re going to put you and your family’s life at risk.”
Below is a list of the evacuation zones.
CURRENT EVACUATIONS
Floridians and visitors can go to FloridaEvacuates.com or download the Florida-Evacuates app to enter their location and see shelters available in their area. Gov. Scott and officials also wanted to stress to new Floridians who may not have experienced a storm of this magnitude, DO NOT underestimate it’s power. This is not a joke or a storm that should be taken lightly.
In Seminole County, there is a mandatory curfew from 5:00 a.m. Friday until 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. Gov. Scott has also suspended tolls on several major roads, including the Florida Turnpike, Alligator Alley and roads apart of the Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.
“Protecting lives remains our number one priority and that is why I have now activated over half of the National Guard who will play a big role in important life-saving missions,” the governor said. “I have directed them to focus on prepositioning resources, assist with helping people evacuate safely and our sheltering operations.”
In response to Gov. Rick Scott, President
Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Matthew.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday that “time is up” for those in evacuation zones to leave before Hurricane Matthew arrives at the South and Eastern coasts. The Category 4 hurricane is gaining strength as it barrels toward the Southeastern United States with wind speeds exceeding 110 MPH.
“Time is up. You have to evacuate now if you are in an evacuation zone,” Gov. Scott said in a statement. “To everyone on Florida’s east coast, if you are reluctant to evacuate, just think of all the people the Hurricane has already killed. You and your family could be among these numbers if you don’t take this seriously.”
Gov. Scott has also suspended tolls on several major roads, including the Florida Turnpike, Alligator Alley and roads apart of the Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.
“Protecting lives remains our number one priority and that is why I have now activated over half of the National Guard who will play a big role in important life-saving missions,” the governor said. “I have directed them to focus on prepositioning resources, assist with helping people evacuate safely and our sheltering operations.”
Local officials told Reuters the death toll from Hurricane Matthew has risen to at least 136 in Haiti, where it passed over before heading toward Florida.
The Florida governor made clear that the time has come and if you go outside after 8:00 p.m. Thursday, you are on your own. If you choose to ride the storm out, which you should not, then have at least three days of food and water on hand. Below is a list of the evacuation zones.
CURRENT EVACUATIONS
Floridians and visitors can go to FloridaEvacuates.com or download the Florida-Evacuates app to enter their location and see shelters available in their area. Gov. Scott and officials also wanted to stress to new Floridians who may not have experienced a storm of this magnitude, DO NOT underestimate it’s power. This is not a joke or a storm that should be taken lightly.
“I have activated another 1,000 members of the National Guard. Per my direction, there are over 2,500 National Guard members who are helping with evacuations and sheltering, and are positioned to help with response as soon as the storm hits,” he added. “We are adding more troops due to the severity and magnitude of this storm.”
The governor met with emergency management officials in Tallahassee and Stuart to discuss preparations and continued to travel the state to meet with emergency management officials. In each stop, he stressed Hurricane Matthew is a life-threatening category three storm and that the state of Florida remains under both tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings.
“Based on the current forecast, the heights of storm surge will be above ground,” the governor said. “Waves will be crashing on roofs. Homes will be destroyed. This is deadly. We have suspended tolls, doubled the amount of shelters and are making sure we keep the roads as clear as possible. There is absolutely no reason not to leave. If you chose to stay and try to ride the storm out, your life is at risk.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said that "time
Weekly jobless claims, or first-time claims for unemployment benefits reported by the Labor Department.
The Labor Department reported unemployment insurance claims fell by 5,000 to 249,000 for the week ending October 1, lower than the estimate for 257,000. The firing rate for the prior week was unchanged at 254,000,
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending September 17 and a Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims. The four-week moving average–which is widely considered a better gauge as it irons-out volatility–was 253,500, a decline of 2,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 256,000.
This marks 83 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970, and the lowest level for the four-week average since December 8, 1973 when it was 252,250. However, as PPD repeatedly reports, long-term unemployment and a shrinking labor force have also contributed to the low, as the eligible pool of applicants has shrunk.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 17 were in Alaska (2.6), Puerto Rico (2.5), New Jersey (2.2), California (2.0), Connecticut (2.0), the Virgin Islands (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.8), West Virginia (1.8), Massachusetts (1.7), Illinois (1.6), Nevada (1.6), and Wyoming (1.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 24 were in Michigan (+2,156), Oregon (+454), Kentucky (+249), Maryland (+241), and Montana (+163), while the largest decreases were in New York (-1,902), Pennsylvania (-1,224), New Jersey (-910), Ohio (-752), and California (-744).
The Labor Department reports weekly jobless claims
Hillary Clinton asked supporters in a largely pro-union audience, “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?”
(UPDATE: In response to public outrage, the Clinton campaign says they will ask the Weather Channel NOT to run the ads at this time.)
Democrat Hillary Clinton is taking heat for using Hurricane Matthew as a political tool, making a last-minute $63,000 ad buy on the Weather Channel. Millions of Americans, including those living in the two battleground states of Florida and North Carolina, will be tuning into the Weather Channel for the latest news and updates on the deadly storm.
But they will instead be bombarded with negative ads run against Republican Donald Trump by the Clinton campaign.
While it may seem like a politically savvy strategy, critics and strategists say it will backfire on the Democratic presidential candidate.
“This is a colossally huge and unforced error by the Clinton camp,” tweeted Kristy Campbell, an advisor to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “Insensitive and will piss off Floridians.”
A new poll released by Emerson College on Thursday found Mrs. Clinton trailing Donald Trump in the Sunshine State. Republicans have made enormous voter registration gains in the state and cut what was roughly a 558,000-plus Democratic edge down to 274,000.
Richard D. Baris, the editor-in-chief and political analyst at People’s Pundit Daily, knows how to win the state and say this isn’t it.
“I agree 100%. This has the potential to seriously blow up in Mrs. Clinton’s face, particularly if it becomes widely known,” says Baris. “This could cost votes in critical regions even among those who don’t see these ads. If they simply hear about them, it could mean votes lost. Regardless of polling, we expect Florida will likely be a razor, razor thin margin no matter who wins. And each and every vote will count.”
Democrat Hillary Clinton is taking heat for
Democrat Hillary Clinton, left, the former secretary of state, and New York businessman and Republican Donald Trump, right.
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton are neck-and-neck in Florida, Nevada and Arizona, a new [content_tooltip id=”38226″ title=”Emerson College Polling University”] finds. In Rhode Island, where a previous Emerson College Poll showed Mrs. Clinton only leading by 3 points, she has opened up a 20-point edge over Mr. Trump (52% to 32%).
Her lead in largely due to voters in the state who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders coming back into the fold.
In Florida, Mr. Trump holds a slight 45% to 44% edge over Mrs. Clinton, with Nevada tied at 43%. In Arizona, Mrs. Clinton holds a slight 2-point edge, 44% to 42%. Neither third party candidate, as is historically the case in the state, seems to be getting much traction among Floridians. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein are trailing far behind with 5% and 4%, respectively.
In two of the states, independent voters favor Mr. Trump while the other two lean toward Mrs. Clinton. He is up by 11 points in Nevada (47% to 36%) with independent voters and by 6 in Rhode Island (42% to 36%), while she has a 1-point edge in Florida (40% to 39%) and a 5-point margin in Arizona (42% to 37%).
Three of the battleground states have large Hispanic populations and Mrs. Clinton’s lead among them varies. In Florida, her edge with Latino voters is only 19% (59% to 36%), which is almost identical to the PPD Sunshine State Poll, while Nevada (59% to 21%) and Arizona (54% to 40%) are both 22%.
Florida, with 29 electoral votes, was the only state among the four Emerson polled that has an African American population greater than 10%. Mrs. Clinton has an large lead with these voters, yet one that is far smaller than President Barack Obama enjoyed–77% to 18%.
Meanwhile, the Republican candidates have large leads in all of the states with U.S. Senate races. Arizona Sen. John McCain leads by 16 points, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio leads by 8 points and Joe Heck leads in Nevada by 4 points.
Emerson Polling Results: Florida, Nevada & Arizona
The Emerson College Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Rhode Island polls were conducted in English and Spanish from October 2-4, under the Supervision of Professor Spencer Kimball. The sample for Nevada consisted of 700 likely general election voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.6%; for Florida, Arizona, and Rhode Island the sample size of 600 had a margin of error of +/- 3.9%. Data was weighted by 2012 election results, age, gender, race and party affiliation. It is important to remember that subsets based on gender, age and party breakdowns carry with them higher margins of error, as the sample size is reduced. Data was collected using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system of landlines only. The full methodology and results can be found at www.theecps.com.
In October, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat
Huma Abedin, left, Hillary Clinton, right. (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
Having lost badly to Hillary Clinton in their first debate, Donald Trump has turned to a subject on which he can claim expertise: screwing around.
Not his own, in this case, but Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions, which he is attempting to hang around Hillary’s neck. The logistical challenge is obvious: Most of the world regards the betrayed wife not as the cheater but as the cheated upon.
Trump’s workaround is to portray Hillary as an “enabler” who knew all about Bill’s various affairs. He contends that contrary to the feminist code, she attacked the women Bill consorted with.
Let’s dispose of the first rap and greatly reduce the charges on the second. Hillary did not enable her husband’s extramarital activities — any more than Eleanor Roosevelt enabled Franklin’s or Jacqueline Kennedy enabled John’s.
Of course Hillary knew that her husband fooled around. So did Eleanor and Jackie. Eleanor actually suggested divorce. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mother would have none of it. She threatened to cut her son from his inheritance if he didn’t give up his liaison with Lucy Mercer, which he didn’t. Eleanor nevertheless went on to champion great causes, and FDR remains one of America’s most revered leaders.
John F. Kennedy’s sexual adventures were probably far more numerous than Bill Clinton’s and definitely more dangerous. One of JFK’s women was a party girl with mob ties, and another widely regarded as a spy for communist East Germany. Despite it all, Jackie genuinely grieved for John after his untimely death.
None of these first ladies condoned her husband’s wanderings. They endured them. And their marriages went on.
In the older moral tradition, adultery was a matter for adults to work out among themselves. But divorce hurt children. Thus, divorce also wrecked political careers.
In 1963, former Sen. Prescott Bush (George W.’s grandfather) refused to back the presidential candidacy of his friend New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller over divorce. “Have we come to the point where a governor can desert his wife and children?” Bush fulminated.
A married man who paraded publicly with his mistress, as Trump has done, inhabited an entirely lower category of scoundrel than the conventional sneak. Bill Clinton, for all his weaknesses, never intended his frolics to become public.
In a perfect world, Hillary would have withheld criticism of Bill’s trysting mates. But there are mitigating circumstances. A woman is entitled to dislike her husband’s paramours. And her reference to Gennifer Flowers as a “failed cabaret singer” came at a time when she genuinely did not believe the Flowers story.
In the case of Bill’s fling with Monica Lewinsky, more than a political career was at stake. The presidency was.
Hillary’s calling Lewinsky a “narcissistic looney tune” may have been overdoing it, but the first lady thought she was saying it in confidence to a friend.
It needs repeating that Bill Clinton’s partners were all consenting adults. Unsubstantiated claims that Clinton physically forced himself on women — or that Trump did the same — can be dismissed.
The real outrage of the Lewinsky frenzy was its paralyzing effect on Washington. Governance froze for months as Clinton’s tormentors danced around the maypole with Monica’s blue dress.
The American public eventually tired of the inquisition and turned on the inquisitors. Hillary’s popularity soared. In the next midterm election, Democrats actually gained seats in the House. At the end, Bill Clinton left office with a higher approval rating than did Ronald Reagan.
For all of Bill’s bad behavior, the Clintons appear to be a solidly married couple joined in political passion. Like Eleanor and Jackie before her, Hillary has been no partner in crime — and she’s not getting a divorce.
Having lost badly to Hillary Clinton in
Presumptive nominees Donald J. Trump, left, and Hillary R. Clinton, right, give victory speeches on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in New York. (Photos: AP)
What if the most remarkable aspect of this presidential election is not how much the two principal candidates disagree with each other but how much they actually agree?
What if they are both statists? What if they both believe that the government’s first duty is to take care of itself? What if they both believe in the primacy of the state over the individual? What if, in clashes between the state and individuals, they both would use the power of the state to trample the rights of individuals?
What if the first priority of both is not to decrease the size and scope of government but to expand it? What if they both believe that the federal government may lawfully and constitutionally right any wrong, tax any behavior and regulate any event? What if they both want to add a few thousand new employees to the federal payroll, give them badges and guns and black shirts, and engage them as federal police to insulate the federal government further from the people and the states?
What if, when James Madison wrote the Constitution, he took great pains to reserve powers to the people and the states that were not delegated away to the feds? What if both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump couldn’t care less about that?
What if both of them reject the Madisonian principle that the federal government is limited in scope to the 16 unique and discrete powers given to it by the Constitution? What if they even reject the corollary to that principle, which is that the balance of governmental powers — those not delegated by the Constitution to the feds — resides in the states? What if they both reject the Madisonian principle that in areas of governmental power retained by the states, the states should be free from federal interference?
What if this principle of a limited federal government depends upon the principle of natural rights — areas of human behavior and choice stemming from our humanity and immune from government interference? What if the Declaration of Independence and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution define our natural rights as inalienable? What if both Trump and Clinton reject that? What if she believes in killing innocents by drone and he believes in torturing innocents at Gitmo?
What if both Clinton and Trump accept the principle that the federal government can address any problem for which there is a national political consensus? What if this idea — championed by Woodrow Wilson, who hated the values of Madison — is the opposite of what the Framers wrote and intended?
What if this Wilsonian principle has unleashed the federal government to regulate nearly all aspects of personal behavior and to enhance immeasurably the powers of an unelected, unseen and unaccountable federal bureaucracy, which never seems to shrink or change?
What if both Trump and Clinton embrace the idea that federal power, rather than being limited by the Constitution, is limited only by what the feds can’t get away with politically? What if this concept was expressly rejected by the Framers but both Trump and Clinton don’t care? What if neither of them believes that a limited federal government must reside and remain within the confines of the Constitution?
What if Trump wants the police to be able to stop anyone they wish based on just a hunch that the person is armed or possessing contraband? What if the Fourth Amendment — which requires the police to have individual articulable suspicion, not just hunches and not judgments based on race, in order to stop a person — was expressly written to prohibit just what Trump wants? What if Trump doesn’t care because he prefers votes to constitutional fidelity?
What if Clinton wants free higher education for all in America who go to community colleges, all of which are government-owned? What if the Constitution does not delegate regulatory or spending authority over education to the feds? What if there is no such thing as “free” college? What if someone somewhere will need to pay for it?
What if all federal revenue is already committed to wealth transfers (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, welfare), interest payments on the federal government’s debt (now north of $400 billion annually) and the Pentagon (which spends crazily so its budget won’t be reduced in the future)? What if the Clinton “free” college deal would mean the feds would need to tax more or borrow more or both?
What if more taxation means less money for the productive aspects of society? What if more borrowing produces a decrease in the value of what you already own? What if a dollar spent by the feds produces far less wealth — jobs, income, productivity — than a dollar invested in the private sector? What if Clinton doesn’t care because she prefers votes to economic productivity?
What if both Trump and Clinton believe they can use the federal government to bribe the poor with handouts, the middle class with tax breaks, the rich with bailouts and write-offs, and the states with block grants? What if Trump himself has benefited enormously from federal write-offs available only to the very rich?
What if neither talks about personal liberty in a free society? What if they both talk about the government’s duty to keep us safe? What if neither talks about the government’s first duty, which is to keep us free? What if neither believes that the government works for us? What if they both really believe that we work for the government?
What if Mark Twain was right when he said that the reason we get to vote is it doesn’t make much difference?
What if the most remarkable aspect of
Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016.
I live-tweeted last night’s debate between the Governor Mike Pence and Senator Tim Kaine. As the debate closed, I summed up my reaction with two tweets, one of which sadly observed that Donald Trump does not share Ronald Reagan’s belief in smaller government and more freedom.
And because I’m fair and balanced, I also reminded people that Hillary Clinton is no Bill Clinton. Indeed, I pointed out that her vote rating in the Senate was almost identical to Bernie Sanders’.
Don’t forget that @HillaryClinton‘s vote record is virtually identical to crazy @BernieSanders‘ #cato2016 #VPDebate https://t.co/nyFwIDc31h
— Dan Mitchell (@danieljmitchell) October 5, 2016
That doesn’t mean Bernie and Hillary are identical.
I’ve remarked many times that he wants America to become Greece at 90 miles per hour while she seems content for the country to become Greece at 55 miles per hour.
But, in practice, they were almost always on the same side when it came time to cast votes on the floor of the Senate.
In any case, my tweet obviously touched a nerve since there were a bunch of (mostly incoherent) responses. And I also got this reaction from a law professor at the University of Baltimore.
“Crazy Bernie Sanders.” Stay classy, dude. https://t.co/tjsICRA8Pn
— (((Garrett Epps))) (@Profepps) October 5, 2016
I assume he thinks I was being juvenile to say that Senator Sanders is crazy. Since I actually am juvenile in many ways (particularly my sense of humor), I might be tempted to plead guilty.
But let’s actually contemplate how the Vermont Senator should be labeled.
Sanders is a virulent and dogmatic supporter of coercive statism. Even columnists for the Washington Post have criticized him for being too far to the left.
But he’s not a real socialist (which technically means government ownership of the means of production). And even though his policies are based on coercion, I certainly don’t think he is a totalitarian.
Yet he’s not a rational leftist like you find in the Nordic nations, where they at least compensate for large welfare states by being very market-oriented about trade, regulation, etc).
All this explains why, when categorizing different types of leftists, I put him in the “crazies” group along with the Syriza Party of Greece.
And while “crazies” might be a pejorative bit of shorthand, I do think folks like Bernie Sanders are largely detached from reality.
But I don’t want people to be upset with me, so I’m going to reconsider how Sanders should be categorized.
To help with this chore, let’s consider a few additional bits of information, starting with an item from his Senate office that contains this remarkable passage.
These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who’s the banana republic now?
By the way, it’s not clear if this is a column written by Sanders or whether he just endorses the sentiments expressed therein.
Though it doesn’t really matter since – at the very least – he obviously agrees with the message.
So let’s think about what it means that Sanders views Argentina and Venezuela as role models.
Argentina used to be one of the richest nations in the world, ranked in the top 10 at the end of World War II. But then decades of statism, starting with Peron and continuing through Kirchner, wreaked havoc with the nation’s economy and Argentina has plummeted in the rankings.
And I’ve written many times about the basket case of Venezuela, so there’s already ample information to discredit anyone who thinks that nation should be emulated.
But let’s add one more straw to the camel’s back. Here are some excerpts from a very depressing story about the human misery being caused by big government in that country.
Klaireth Díaz is a 1st-grade teacher at Elías Toro School… Last year, she says, attendance was painfully low. Every day, of a class of 30 children at least 10 would be absent. “The reason was always lack of food,” she told Fox News Latino. She said she had a student who skipped class every single Thursday and when she asked his mother about it, she explained that Thursday was the day of the week assigned to her family to buy food at government-regulated prices – which involves standing in line starting sometimes as early as 3 a.m.
Food lines?!? That’s what Bernie Sanders thinks is a success story?
Though I guess if everyone has to wait in lines for food, at least they’re all equally poor (though even that’s not true since the ruling-class leftists in Venezuela have plundered the nation’s treasury).
In other words, maybe this image isn’t a joke or satire after all.
But it gets worse. The food lines apparently don’t provide enough food.
Across the country, teachers have said they have seen children faint or fall asleep because they haven’t had enough to eat. …As the school year progressed last year, Diaz said, she noticed more and more kids had stopped bringing lunch. …According to a poll conducted last month by More Consulting among 2,000 respondents in Caracas, in 48 percent of the times children do not attend school, the cause is related to the food. Either they are feeling too weak for lack of nutrition, or their parents rather use the transport money to buy food, or they are in the food lines with their parents. The poll revealed that 36.5 percent of children eat only twice a day and 10.2 percent just once.
So maybe Bernie Sanders isn’t crazy. If he views Venezuela as a role model, maybe he’s morally blind. Or genuinely evil.
But I’m a nice guy, so I’m sticking with crazy since I would hate to think that even a crank like Sanders willfully embraces the monstrous outcomes found in Venezuela.
P.S. I haven’t written about Ecuador, but if forced to choose among Bernie’s various success stories, I guess that would be my pick since it is 142 out of 159 in the rankings from Economic Freedom of the World, which surely is better than being Argentina (156) or Venezuela (dead last at 159).
To be fair to Sanders, at least he didn’t list Cuba, which is such an economic hell-hole that (if reliable numbers were available) it would presumably rank below even Venezuela.
Bernie Sanders is a virulent and dogmatic
Service sector employee, nurse at a hospital. (Photo: REUTERS)
The Non-Manufacturing (NMI) Report On Business, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) gauge of service sector activity, increased to 57.1 in September. The reading, which marks an 11-month high, or the highest level since October 2015, followed a steep drop in August and topped the forecast of 53.0.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the service sector.
Increases in the index during September were broad-based, as business activity and the employment sub-indices both reached 11-month highs. The report was in line with the ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday showing U.S. private employers added 154,000 jobs in September, slightly below economists’ expectations. The report continued to find the service, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, led the way industry-wise.
However, with wages stagnant or at best rising slowly, the lower-paying service sector is welcomed growth but not enough needed to move the needle. The more closely-watched monthly U.S. jobs report is scheduled for release on Friday.
The Commerce Department also reported earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. trade deficit rose more than expected in August as a sharp increase in imports easily offset higher exports. The trade gap widened 3% to $40.73 billion.
| ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE COMPARISON OF ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS* SEPTEMBER 2016 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Manufacturing | Manufacturing | ||||||||
| Index | Series Index Sep |
Series Index Aug |
Percent Point Change |
Direction | Rate of Change |
Trend** (Months) |
Series Index Sep |
Series Index Aug |
Percent Point Change |
| NMI®/PMI® | 57.1 | 51.4 | +5.7 | Growing | Faster | 80 | 51.5 | 49.4 | +2.1 |
| Business Activity/Production | 60.3 | 51.8 | +8.5 | Growing | Faster | 86 | 52.8 | 49.6 | +3.2 |
| New Orders | 60.0 | 51.4 | +8.6 | Growing | Faster | 86 | 55.1 | 49.1 | +6.0 |
| Employment | 57.2 | 50.7 | +6.5 | Growing | Faster | 4 | 49.7 | 48.3 | +1.4 |
| Supplier Deliveries | 51.0 | 51.5 | -0.5 | Slowing | Slower | 9 | 50.3 | 50.9 | -0.6 |
| Inventories | 51.5 | 48.0 | +3.5 | Growing | From Contracting | 1 | 49.5 | 49.0 | +0.5 |
| Prices | 54.0 | 51.8 | +2.2 | Increasing | Faster | 6 | 53.0 | 53.0 | 0.0 |
| Backlog of Orders | 52.0 | 49.5 | +2.5 | Growing | From Contracting | 1 | 49.5 | 45.5 | +4.0 |
| New Export Orders | 56.5 | 46.5 | +10.0 | Growing | From Contracting | 1 | 52.0 | 52.5 | -0.5 |
| Imports | 51.0 | 50.5 | +0.5 | Growing | Faster | 8 | 49.0 | 47.0 | +2.0 |
| Inventory Sentiment | 64.5 | 64.0 | +0.5 | Too High | Faster | 232 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Customers’ Inventories | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 53.0 | 49.5 | +3.5 |
| Overall Economy | Growing | Faster | 86 | ||||||
| Non-Manufacturing Sector | Growing | Faster | 80 | ||||||
* Non-Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® data is seasonally adjusted for Business Activity, New Orders, Prices and Employment Indexes. Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® data is seasonally adjusted for New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries.
** Number of months moving in current direction.
The Non-Manufacturing (NMI) Report On Business, the
