Economy in Brief

Nonfarm productivity slipped at a 2.2% annual rate last quarter, revised from -1.8%. The decline followed a 3.9% 3Q rise. For all of last year, worker productivity rose 0.7% on average. Real output increased at a downwardly revised [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during February slipped to 50,579 (+20.9% y/y) following a jump to 53,041 in January. Layoffs fell m/m in the automotive, chemical, commodities, [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims moved up 320,000 during the week ended February 28 from an unrevised 313,000 in the prior week. It was the highest level of claims since the middle of May 2014. The four-week moving average of [...]

Italy continues to struggle. Its GDP fell in Q4 and is net lower year-over-year. GDP in Italy is falling as fast year-over-year in Q4 as it was in Q3. That is not progress. Public consumption rose at a 1.7% annual rate in Q4 2014 but [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index ticked 0.1% higher last week (10.3% y/y). Applications are down 25.1% during the last six weeks. Refinance applications improved 0.5% (17.1% y/y). [...]

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) composite index of nonmanufacturing sector activity nudged higher to 56.9 during February from an unrevised 56.7 in January. Nevertheless, the latest numbers remained well below the highs of [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls increased 212,000 last month (2.5% y/y). January's gain of 250,000 was revised from 213,000 while December's increase of 275,000 was revised [...]

The finalization of the EMU PMI indexes brought slightly weaker values to the report. Still, both the manufacturing and services sectors of the EMU are improving in February compared to their January values and each sector is showing [...]