Economy in Brief

Total sales of light vehicles during May edged 0.2% higher versus April (-1.4% y/y) to 17.45 million units (SAAR). Auto sales improved 0.8% to 7.12 million units (-11.3% y/y). The increase was led by a 1.1% rise (-11.7% y/y) in [...]

Strength in building activity has waned recently. The value of construction put-in-place declined 1.8% during April (+4.5% y/y) following a 1.5% March rise, revised from 0.3%. February's 1.4% gain also was revised from 1.0%. A 0.5% [...]

The ISM Composite Index of manufacturing activity increased slightly to 51.3 during May following an unrevised April decline to 50.8. The index has hovered near the break-even level of 50 for four months, but last month beat [...]

Lethargy and weakness rule Manufacturing PMI data remain weak on a global scale. Among the reporters in this table with data back to only 2008 at the most, there is NO country whose manufacturing PMI stands higher than Vietnam's 86th [...]

The busiest driving season has given rise to further strength in gasoline prices. Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.34 per gallon during Memorial Day week (-15.9% y/y) following the prior week's jump to $2.30, according to the [...]

Chicago purchasing managers reported that their Business Barometer Index fell to 49.3 this month following a decline to 50.4 in April. The latest reading disappointed expectations for 50.5 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index during May declined 2.2% (-2.1% y/y) to 92.6 following a 1.5% April decrease to 94.7, revised from 94.2. The latest figure was the lowest in six months and disappointed expectations for [...]

Central bank bond purchases and negative interest are still not pumping up money growth in the EMU. The year-over-year growth rates for money and credit have backed off, leaving the stimulus policies without a solid backing from the [...]