Recent Updates
- Indonesia: International Trade (Apr)
- Finland: Trend Indicator of Output (Mar), Bankruptcy Filings (Apr)
- Japan: Monetary Survey (Apr), Wholesale & Retail Trade (Mar)
- Singapore: International Trade Press (Apr)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Surging Imports Send the EMU Trade Scene Deeper into Deficit
The trade balance for the Euro Area fell sharply to 17.5 billion euros in March...
U.S. Import Prices Hold Steady While Export Prices Rise in April
Import prices held steady m/m (+12.0% y/y) in April...
EMU IP Drops Month-to-Month and Year-over-Year
Industrial output among EMU members fell by 1.8% month-to-month in March...
U.S. Producer Price Inflation Moderates in April
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand increased 0.5% during April...
U.S. Housing Affordability Plunges in March
Affordable homes are in short supply...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation & Fed Policy: A Relationship Which Should Worry The Fed And Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
"Core" GDP Suggests Economy Gained Momentum in Q1:2022
by Tom Moeller May 5, 2022
• Productivity drop is greater-than-expected.
• Compensation gain weakens.
• Unit labor costs surge.
Nonfarm business sector labor productivity declined 7.5% (-0.6% y/y) in Q1'22 following a 6.3% gain in Q4'21, revised from 6.6%. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 4.5% decline.
Output fell 2.4% (+4.2% y/y) last quarter following a 9.0% increase while hours rose 5.5% (4.8% y/y) after gaining 2.5% in Q4.
Compensation rose 3.2% (6.5%) last quarter after a 7.4% Q4 rise, revised from 7.5%. The combination of falling productivity and higher compensation propelled the rise in Q1 unit labor costs to 11.6% (7.2% y/y) following a 1.0% Q4 rise. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected an 8.4% rise.
In the manufacturing sector, Q1 productivity rose 0.7% (1.7% y/y) after a 0.6% easing in Q4, revised from -0.1%. Output rose 5.7% (5.2% y/y) and hours-worked rose 5.1% (3.5% y/y).
Manufacturing compensation rose 2.8% (3.5% y/y) after a 1.1% rise. Unit labor costs rose 2.1% (1.8% y/y) after increasing 1.7% in Q4'21.
Compensation and labor costs figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.