President Donald Trump can return to the United States claiming to have snagged over $250 billion in deals from his maiden trip to Beijing. Whether those deals live up to the lofty price tag is another question altogether. Some huge deals were announced. Among them is a 20-year $83.7 billion investment by China Energy Investment Corp in shale gas developments and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia, a major energy producing state that voted heavily for Trump in the 2016 election.

China’s top state oil major Sinopec, one of the country’s top banks and its sovereign wealth fund have agreed to help develop Alaska’s liquefied natural gas sector as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit, the U.S. government said on Thursday. The agreement will involve investment of up to $43 billion, create up to 12,000 U.S. jobs during construction, reduce the trade deficit between the United States and Asia by $10 billion a year, and give China clean energy.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $43.5 billion in September, up $0.7 billion from $42.8 billion in August, revised. September exports were $196.8 billion, $2.1 billion more than August exports. September imports were $240.3 billion, $2.8 billion more than August imports.

U.S. Rig Count is up 329 rigs from last year's count of 569, with oil rigs up 279, gas rigs up 52, and miscellaneous rigs down 2 to 2. Canada Rig Count is up 38 rigs from last year's count of 154, with oil rigs up 24 and gas rigs up 14.

In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1 to 1-1/4 percent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting some further strengthening in labor market conditions and a sustained return to 2 percent inflation.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent.

ExxonMobil and Chevron, the two largest US oil and gas groups, are continuing to lose money on oil and gas production in their home country, in spite of the rise in commodity prices since last year.

U.S. Rig Count is up 352 rigs from last year's count of 557, with oil rigs up 296, gas rigs up 58, and miscellaneous rigs down 2 to 0. Canada Rig Count is up 38 rigs from last year's count of 153, with oil rigs up 23 and gas rigs up 15.

Changing demographics in the population will have far-reaching effects on the labor force, the economy, and employment over the 2016–26 decade. The overall labor force participation rate is projected to decline as older workers leave the labor force, constraining economic growth. The aging baby-boomer segment of the population will drive demand for healthcare services and related occupations.

Total petroleum deliveries increased 2.4 percent from September 2016. These September deliveries were the highest September deliveries in a decade. For the third quarter 2017, total petroleum deliveries, a measure of U.S. petroleum demand, increased 2.1 percent from the same period last year to nearly 20.4 million barrels per day. For year to date 2017, total domestic petroleum deliveries increased 1.2 percent compared to the same period last year.