Economy in Brief: November 2019

Weakness continues in the factory sector. The ISM manufacturing index fell to 47.8 during September........ The ISM figures are diffusion indexes where a reading above 50 indicates expansion. The figures from the Institute for Supply [...]

The market for new motor vehicles softened last month. The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles during October declined 3.8% (-4.9% y/y) to 16.58 million units (SAAR) from 17.23 million during September. It was [...]

Job growth moderated during October, but a strike at GM and a hefty drop in temporary Census workers accounted for much of the slowdown. Nonfarm payrolls increased 128,000 (1.4% y/y) during October following a 180,000 September gain, [...]

Manufacturing PMI values that feature the ISM in the U.S. and use flash values for Europe demonstrate still weak manufacturing conditions globally. The overall average (unweighted for importance) PMI is unchanged in October at 49.3, [...]

The value of construction put-in-place grew a greater-than-expected 0.5% in September (-1.8% year-on-year) with net upward revisions in previous months. While August was revised down to a 0.3% decline (was +0.1%), July was revised [...]

The ISM manufacturing index increased to 48.3 in October from September's cycle low of 47.8. The Action Economics Forecast Survey anticipated an increase to 49.0. According to the ISM press release, the October reading is consistent [...]

Job growth moderated during October, but a strike at GM accounted for much of the slowdown. Nonfarm payrolls increased 128,000 (1.4% y/y) during October following a 180,000 September gain, revised from 136,000. August's increase also [...]