Economy in Brief

Globally the manufacturing sector is struggling. In March, 11 of the 17 countries/units in the table showed declines their respective manufacturing PMIs. Moreover, 8 of these 17 entities have PMI readings below 50, indicating [...]

Job market improvement lost steam last month. Nonfarm payroll employment during March increased 126,000 (2.3% y/y) following a 264,000 February rise, revised from 295,000. January's advance also was lessened to 201,000 from 239,000. [...]

Job market improvement lost steam last month. Nonfarm payroll employment during March increased 126,000 (2.3% y/y) following a 264,000 February rise, revised from 295,000. January's advance also was lessened to 201,000 from 239,000. [...]

New orders in the manufacturing sector improved 0.2% during February following a 0.7% January decline, revised from -0.2%. A 0.5% decline was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Durable goods orders declined 1.4% (+0.5% [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during March declined to 36,595 (+6.4% y/y) following a fall to 50,579 in February. Layoffs fell m/m in the aerospace/defense, computer, energy, [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims in the week ended March 28 declined to 268,000 (-18.5% y/y) from 288,000 during the prior week, revised from 282,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 285,500, the lowest [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit in goods and services declined to $35.4 billion during February from $42.7 billion in January, revised from $41.8 billion. A deficit of $41.8 billion was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

Consumers renewed their car-buying interest last month. Sales of light vehicles increased 5.6% (4.0% y/y) during March to 17.15 million units (AR) versus 16.23 million in February. The latest level was the highest since November. [...]