Economy in Brief: July 2018

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 231,000 during the week ended June 30, an increase of 3,000 from the 228,000 of the prior week, which was revised up by a marginal 1,000. While obviously still quite low, the June 30 [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 177,000 (1.8% y/y) during June following a 189,000 May gain, revised from 178,000. A 185,000 rise had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

Retail gasoline prices improved to $2.84 per gallon last week (25.8% y/y) from $2.83 per gallon during the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally- [...]

Total sales of light vehicles increased 3.3% during June (4.6% y/y) to 17.47 million units (SAAR) and recovered declines during the prior two months, according to the Autodata Corporation. Nevertheless, the increase left sales 5.9% [...]

Business activity in the factory sector is humming. Manufacturers' orders increased 0.4% during May (9.2% y/y) following a 0.4% April decline, revised from -0.8%. Manufacturing shipments rose 0.6% (7.3% y/y) after a 0.1% April gain. [...]

The graph shows decelerating year-on-year trends for consumer goods and intermediate goods with capital goods inflation low and essentially flat-lining. However, the table, which looks more at trends at 12-month and less, shows PPI [...]

Retail gasoline prices improved to $2.84 per gallon last week (25.8% y/y) from $2.83 per gallon during the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally- [...]

The factory sector expansion continues in the U.S. The ISM composite index of activity in the factory sector rose to 60.2 during June from May's unrevised 58.7. It was the highest index level since February. A reading of 58.5 had been [...]