Commerce Department

US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on implementation of the $52.7 billion semiconductor chips manufacturing subsidy and research law, the White House said. Earlier this month, Biden signed the bill to boost efforts to make the United States more competitive with China's science and technology efforts. The law aims to alleviate a persistent shortage that has affected everything from cars and weapons to washing machines and video games by subsidizing US chip manufacturing and expanding research funding.…

Businesses pulled back on orders for long-lasting goods in July, reflecting a cooling in demand amid other signs of a slowing U.S. economy. New orders for durable goods—products meant to last at least three years—were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted $273.5 billion in July compared with the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Excluding defense, new orders were up 1.2%. Overall orders for durable goods—which include factory equipment, computers and washing…

House construction in the U.S. continued to slow in July, as high inflation and higher mortgage rates make it more expensive to build and buy property. Housing starts in July fell 9.6% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.45 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, down from a revised 1.60 million the prior month. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected the government to report 1.52 million housing starts for July. The…

The United States on Friday adopted new export controls on technologies that support the production of advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines that it said are critical to its national security. The "emerging and foundational technologies" covered by the move include gallium oxide and diamond, because "devices that utilize these materials have significantly increased military potential," the Commerce Department said. "Technological advancements that allow technologies like semiconductors and engines to operate…

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in June to its lowest level in six months as a rise in shipments of energy products pushed up exports, while cooling consumer appetite weighed on imports. The trade gap in goods and services shrank 6.2% in June to $79.6 billion after seasonal adjustment, the Commerce Department said Thursday, down from May’s revised deficit of $84.9 billion. That marked the first time the deficit has been below $80 billion since December 2021. Exports grew 1.7% to $261 billion, helped largely by…

The US Commerce Department said that it will limit the size of government subsidizes for semiconductor manufacturing and will not let firms use funding to "pad their bottom line." The US House of Representatives gave final approval to legislation that provides $52 billion in government funding to boost semiconductor manufacturing and research. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation early next week. The Commerce Department told chips companies awards will be "no larger than is necessary to ensure the…

WASHINGTON—Within 24 hours of emerging from his Covid-19 isolation, President Biden got a reminder of the biggest obstacle facing Democrats heading into the midterm elections—fears of an economic recession—along with a potential life raft in the form of a reconciliation deal in the Senate. Back in the West Wing Wednesday afternoon after his illness, Mr. Biden, wearing a black face mask, joined with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and top aides in his dining room off the Oval Office to watch…

U.S. households’ spending rose more rapidly last month as they faced the highest inflation in more than four decades.Consumers boosted their seasonally adjusted spending by 1.1% in June, up from a revised 0.3% increase in May, the Commerce Department said Friday.Personal income rose by 0.6% last month, the same as the prior month. After taxes and adjusting for inflation, incomes fell by 0.3%. The report showed that inflation as measured by the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge, the personal-consumption expenditures price…

The U.S. economy shrank for a second quarter in a row—a common definition of recession—as businesses trimmed their inventories, the housing market buckled under rising interest rates, and high inflation took steam out of consumer spending.Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the goods and services produced across the economy, fell at an inflation and seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.9% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That followed a 1.6% pace of contraction in the first three months…

A Commerce Department report on Thursday could further ignite recession worries in the U.S. while also highlighting the outsize role that business inventory woes are playing in the economy’s ups and downs.Many economists expect the Commerce Department to report that gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, contracted in the second quarter after shrinking in the first. They also think that drop will be largely due to firms trimming their inventories, while overall spending by consumers advanced modestly. Businesses…