Economy in Brief: March 2015

The value of construction put-in-place declined 1.1% during January (+1.8% y/y) following a 0.8% improvement, revised from 0.4%. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Private construction activity fell [...]

Factory sector momentum continues to slacken. The February reading from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) declined to 52.9 following its January drop to an unrevised 53.5. It was the fifth m/m decline in the index in the last [...]

European unemployment rates show more pervasive declines in January. Seven of these 11 early EMU reporters show unemployment rates lower in January 2015 compared to December 2014. Eight show rates net lower over three months. Nine [...]

Personal income rose an expected 0.3% during January (4.6% y/y) following an unrevised 0.3% December increase. The expectations figure is from the Consensus Economics Forecast Survey. Wages & salaries strengthened 0.6% (4.9% y/y) [...]