Economy in Brief

Earlier strength in the job market subsided last month. Nonfarm payroll employment increased 151,000 (1.7% y/y) during August. That followed an upwardly revised 275,000 July rise, but June's gain was lessened to 271,000. A 180,000 [...]

Earlier strength in the job market subsided last month. Nonfarm payroll employment increased 151,000 (1.7% y/y) during August. That followed an upwardly revised 275,000 July rise, but June's gain was lessened to 271,000. A 180,000 [...]

Total sales of light vehicles during August declined 5.0% versus July (-4.5% y/y) to 16.98 million units (SAAR), and reversed most of July's increase. Sales fell in three of the last four months. Sales of light trucks declined 5.4% to [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during August dropped to 31,188 (-21.8% y/y) following July's increase to 45,346. Layoffs declined in the aerospace/defense, chemical, computer, [...]

The value of construction put-in-place remained little changed during July (+1.5% y/y) following a 0.9% June rise, revised from -0.6%. Despite the recent m/m stability, y/y growth in the value of construction activity has been [...]

The global manufacturing scene remains weak in August with low valued PMI gauges across the spectrum. The environment for trade and commerce has deteriorated sharply and the risks to growth have become more palpable. At the IMF, [...]

Contraction in the level of factory sector activity has recurred. The ISM Composite Index of manufacturing activity fell to 49.4 during August from an unrevised 52.6 in July. It was the lowest level since January, and compared to 52.0 [...]

Nonfarm output per hour during Q2'16 fell 0.6% (SAAR), revised from -0.5%. It was the third consecutive quarterly decline and matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The latest decline occurred as output [...]