Economy in Brief: May 2009

Regrettably, recent gains in the value of construction spending have been limited, small and tenuous. The value of construction put-in-place unexpectedly increased 0.3% during March following five consecutive months of decline in [...]

For March, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales of existing homes rose another 3.2% following their little revised 2.0% gain during February. While surprising, the gains failed to recoup a sharp 7.7% [...]

What lift may have been evident in sales of light vehicles dissolved with the report that sales in April fell, despite a new round of price discounts. U.S. unit sales of light vehicles reversed most of a March gain with a 5.5% m/m [...]

For March, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales of existing homes rose another 3.2% following their little revised 2.0% gain during February. While surprising, the gains failed to recoup a sharp 7.7% [...]

During March, the manufacturing sector continued to shed inventories at near a record rate. The 0.8% decline followed a revised 1.3% cutback during February. During the last three months the 12.1% annualized rate of stock-pile [...]

Despite lower levels of employment, the University of Michigan's April reading of consumer sentiment added to its March improvement and rose to the highest level since September of last year. The gain in the index to a level of 65.1 [...]

The manufacturing sector showed a sign of modest improvement following several months of sharp decline in overall activity. The April composite index for the factory sector from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 40.1 from [...]

The manufacturing sector showed a sign of modest improvement following several months of sharp decline in overall activity. The April composite index for the factory sector from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 40.1 from [...]