Economy in Brief: 2019

Manufacturers' orders gained 0.1% (4.2% y/y) during January, the same as in December which was unrevised. ......... The factory sector figures are available in Haver's USECON database. Factory Sector (% chg) - NAICS Classification Feb [...]

The composite PMI readings largely lost ground in March, however, not by much in most cases. Italy Spain and China are exceptions where the composite PMIs gained traction. In four of eight of the countries/regions whose results are [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) weakened to 56.1 in March, the lowest level since August 2017. The figure remained below the cycle peak of 60.8 reached in [...]

ADP indicated in its National Employment Report that private nonfarm payrolls increased 129,000 (2.0% y/y) during March after a 197,000 February gain, revised from 183,000. It was the weakest increase since September 2017. A 180,000 [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index leapt 18.6% (29.8% year-on-year) during the week ending March 29. The volume of applications reached its highest level since October 2016. [...]

The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles increased 5.3% (1.0% y/y) during March to 17.45 million units (SAAR). The increase recouped declines during the prior two months. Auto sales improved 3.4% (-6.7% y/y) to a [...]

News headlines on this report say that the PPI in the EMU accelerated in February. Do not believe it. I have long had my quibbles with how journalists describe economic reports. Today’s PPI report is an example. The headline PPI [...]

U.S. retail gasoline prices increased this week to $2.69 per gallon (-0.3% y/y), up from the low of $2.24 early in January. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The [...]