Economy in Brief

Regular gasoline prices improved to $2.36 per gallon last week (13.3% y/y), up versus three weeks of stability at $3.32 per gallon. Prices remained lower than the 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. Haver Analytics constructs factors [...]

Manufacturing sector orders increased 1.0% (7.3% y/y) during February following a 1.5% January increase, revised from 1.2%. Durable goods orders increased 1.8% (5.3% y/y), revised from the advance report of a 1.7% increase. [...]

Euro area retail sales advanced by 0.7% in February as overall sales rose by 1.8% year-on-year. Nonfood sales rose by 1.1% year-on-year; they rose by 0.7% month-to-month showing steady acceleration with three-month sales at a pace of [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined during February to its smallest level since October. The deficit of $43.6 bil. contrasted to $48.2 bil. in January, initially reported as $48.5 bil. Expectations had been for a [...]

Total sales of light vehicles declined 5.4% m/m during March (-0.3% y/y) to 16.62 million units (SAAR), according to the Autodata Corporation. It was the lowest level of sales since February 2015. Light truck sales fell 6.8% (+6.3% [...]

Japan's current Tankan assessment shows pick-up The bellwether in Japan's Tankan report is the large company response particularly for manufacturing concerns. In Q1 2017 and in the outlook for Q2, manufacturers form a strong part of [...]

The value of construction put-in-place gained 0.8% during February (+3.0% y/y), after easing 0.4% in January and 0.2% during December. The increase compares to expectations for a 1.0% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

Improvement in factory sector momentum is building. The ISM composite index of factory sector activity at 57.0 during Q1'17 was the strongest reading in six years. The March level alone slipped to 57.2 from an unrevised 57.7 in [...]