Economy in Brief

Globally the service sector remains weak and it is not stepping up to provide a counterbalance to ongoing and worsening manufacturing sector weakness. Six of 15 of these bellwether markets show a weaker services reading in May. Only [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $37.4 billion in April from a revised $35.5 billion in March. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected a $42.0 billion deficit billion. While this outcome would appear [...]

Nonfarm payrolls grew just 38,000 (1.7% y/y) during May following downwardly revised gains of 123,000 and 186,000 during the prior two months. Revisions subtracted a combined 59,000 from April and March. It was the smallest increase [...]

Nonfarm payrolls grew just 38,000 (1.7% y/y) during May

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during May fell sharply to 30,157 (-26.5% y/y) following April's increase to 64,141, revised down from 65,141. It was the lowest layoff level [...]

The PPI is still falling The EMU-wide PPI gained in March but is falling again in April. After a 0.1% gain in March, the PPI is lower by 0.4% month-to-month in April. It is still falling year-over-year and by 4.4% (excluding [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 267,000, up 6.5% y/y, during the week ended May 28 versus an unrevised decline to 268,000 in the prior week. It was the third consecutive weekly shortfall, but it left the average so [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls rose 173,000 during May following a 166,000 April rise, revised from 156,000. These gains compare to an average of 200,000 during Q1'16 and [...]