Economy in Brief

The light vehicle market remains on fire. Total sales of light vehicles increased 1.5% during August to 17.81 million units (SAAR, 2.8% y/y). It was the highest level of sales since July 2005. Light truck purchases led last month's [...]

The value of construction put-in-place increased 0.7% during July following an upwardly revised 0.7% rise in June. May's increase was revised higher to 2.3%. Three-month growth eased to 15.7% (AR), roughly half the growth as of June. [...]

The Composite Index from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell to 51.1 during August following an unrevised decline to 52.7 in July. It was the lowest level since May 2013. An unchanged 52.7 had been expected in the Action [...]

Economic weakening is real. Oil tried to put on a brave face earlier this week. The rumors of some unspecified Saudi deal swirled. But in the end there is no Saudi deal. And global growth is weak, undermining the ability for any deal [...]

Crude oil prices found new life last week. Following weakness through Wednesday which left WTI crude oil costs at $38.60 per barrel, prices surged on news of weakened production and speculation of more cutbacks to come. For the week, [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that its August Composite index of factory sector activity declined to -15.8, its weakest reading in three months. The production component was near break-even, up sharply from three months [...]

Chicago purchasing managers reported that their August Business Barometer Index slipped to 54.4 following an unrevised rise to 54.7 in July. Despite the decline, the Q3 average so far of 54.6 was the highest quarterly figure this [...]

The EMU HICP gauge in August fell 0.1% m/m. The core measure ticked up 0.1% after a 0.2% July increase. Headline inflation has fallen month-to-month in two of the last three months. Sequential inflation from 12-month to six-month to [...]