Economy in Brief: January 2009

Chain store sales last week recovered all of the previous week's decline with a 1.4% increase, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Index. The rise lifted sales 1.7% above their December average [...]

Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements in December fell back slightly to 166,348 following the indication of 181,671 layoffs during November. Despite the drop, however, the number of layoffs was nearly four [...]

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the total number of mortgage applications fell a slight 8.2% last week after having been unchanged during the prior week. Nevertheless, applications remained firm to take advantage of [...]

The payroll processor ADP indicated in its latest National Employment Report that December private nonfarm payrolls fell 693,000. The decline followed a revised 476,000 November drop that was much deeper than the initial estimate. The [...]

The payroll processor ADP indicated in its latest National Employment Report that December private nonfarm payrolls fell 693,000. The decline followed a revised 476,000 November drop that was much deeper than the initial estimate. The [...]

On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production in Brazil fell 5.2% in November from October, following a 2.8% decline in October from September. The November decline is one of the largest month to month declines on record. On a [...]

Factory inventories fell in November. The decline of 0.3%, along with those during prior months, was disproportionately influenced by the decline in oil prices. Less oil, inventories rose 0.2% after a 0.4% October gain. Moreover, the [...]

For November, the National Association of Realtors indicated that pending sales of existing homes fell another 4.0%, about as they did during the prior two months. The October drop was revised sharply larger. Consensus expectations [...]