Economy in Brief

German IP dropped in July falling by 1.5%. The drop more than offsets a 1.1% gain in June and makes it two declines in the last three months. IP is falling on a consistent basis and it is nearly accelerating its drop from 12-Mo to [...]

The total job openings rate edged higher to 3.9% in July, regaining its record high last reached in April, up from 3.8% in June and 3.7 in May. The private sector job openings rate jumped to 4.2% in July from 4.0% in June, also [...]

German orders continue their run of weakness rising by 0.2% in July after falling by 0.3% in June and after rising by 0.1% in May. Orders on balance are flat over 3-months and flat over six months and are lower by 0.5% over 12-months. [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Business Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) decreased to 51.4 in August from 55.5 in July. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had been for a much [...]

Manufacturing sector orders increased 1.9% (-3.5% y/y) during July and reversed the prior month's 1.8% fall, revised from -1.5%. The rise reflected a 4.4% increase in orders for durable goods, which was unrevised from the advance [...]

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 [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services decreased to $39.5 billion in July from a slightly revised $44.7 billion in June. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected a much more modest move to a $43.0 billion deficit. The [...]

The euro area PPI rose in July, ticking up by 0.1% as it fell by 2.9% year-over-year. Capital goods prices rose by 0.1% in July as consumer goods and intermediate goods prices each rose by 0.2%. Year-on-year capital goods prices are [...]