Economy in Brief

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions in December rose to 30.4 from 15.6 in November. It rebounded to the highest level since June 2015. Forty-seven percent of respondents [...]

The decline in the overall unemployment rate to 4.5% during November reflects a range of state unemployment rates from a high of 6.8% in Alaska to a 2.7% low in South Dakota. The unemployment rate in Alaska continued to top the chart [...]

The IFO survey shows pretty much across-the-board sector increases in December (the retail index is unchanged). Except for construction, all sectors have risen by more in the last four months than they have over the last 12 months. [...]

Earlier vibrancy registered in the housing market was dimmed by last month's decline in housing starts. Starts fell 18.7% during November (-6.9% y/y) to an annual rate of 1.090 million units. That reversed most of October's 27.4% jump [...]

The U.S. current account deficit eased to $113.0 during the third quarter from $118.3 in Q2, revised from -$119.9 billion. The Q3 deficit figure compared to $111.6 billion expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The deficit [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index jumped to 21.5 during December from November's 7.6. It was the highest level since November 2014. The reading for all of 2016 [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo surged to 70 during December (16.7% y/y) following unrevised stability at 63 in November. It was the highest level since July 2005. The NAHB [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions for December continued to improve, rising to 9.0 (up from 1.5 in November), which was its highest reading since April. According to the Action Economics Forecast [...]