Economy in Brief

Manufacturing PMI data for the most part show ongoing expansion and improvement. Of the 17 key manufacturing reporters in the table, only five show manufacturing PMI values below 50 indicating sector contraction. Only five have [...]

The value of construction put-in-place increased 0.9% during November following a 0.6% October gain, revised from 0.5%. Construction was up 4.1% y/y following stronger growth from 2012 through 2015. The latest rise compared to [...]

Manufacturing sector activity continues to strengthen. The ISM composite index of factory sector activity increased to 54.7 during December from an unrevised 53.2 during November. It was highest reading since December 2014. [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer Index decreased to 54.6 in December following a jump to 57.6 during November. The December figure compared to expectations for a smaller drop to 56.5 in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Spain offers a very early read on inflation in December. The headlines of the HICP and CPI show a spurt in progress with a nearly 1% gain (0.8% and 0.9%, respectively) in the HICP and CPI readings in the month of December alone. These [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance eased to 265,000 (-7.0% y/y) in the week ended December 24 following an unrevised increase to 275,000 in the December 17 week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey also showed [...]

Money supply growth in the EMU and globally is still on trend or weaker. The lone exception here is a three-month pick-up in Japan's nominal monetary growth that is not reflected by a speed up in real money balances. But credit in the [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell 2.5% m/m (-0.4% y/y) in November after having edged up only 0.1% (not revised) in October. These sales are reported as an index with 2001=100. The [...]