Economy in Brief: April 2021

• Applications for both purchases and refinancing continue to decline. • Mortgage interest rates edged up slightly last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 5.1% w/w (-3.4% y/y) in the week [...]

• Number of openings and hiring strengthens. • Layoffs & quits rise slightly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that on the last business day of February, the total job openings rate strengthened to a record 4.9% from 4.7% in [...]

• Gasoline prices reverse piece of earlier decline. • Crude oil prices rise modestly. • Natural gas prices edge higher. The price of regular gasoline rose to $2.86 per gallon (48.5% y/y) in the week ended April 5 after falling to [...]

PMI data are being finalized in step-wise fashion. The table below presents the most up-to-date PMI reading for all the entries in the table. Final PMI readings were issued today for the U.S. and Japan; the rest show the ‘flash' [...]

• Factory orders fell for both durable and nondurable goods. • Shipments decline for both durable and nondurable goods. • But order backlogs & inventories both advance 0.8% in February. New orders for manufactured goods fell back in [...]

• Surprising strength led by business activity & new orders. • Employment bounces back. • Pricing improves to 2008 high as delivery speeds slow. Service sector activity strengthened last month along with the factory sector, as [...]

• Leisure & hospitality plus construction drive jobs strength. • Average hourly earnings slip. • Unemployment rate declines to lowest level in twelve months. The labor market has revived with business re-openings following [...]

• Leisure & hospitality plus construction drive jobs strength. • Average hourly earnings slip. • Unemployment rate declines to lowest level in twelve months. The labor market has revived with business re-openings following [...]