Economy in Brief

Consumer's continue to shy away from auto dealerships. Sales of light vehicles declined 2.6% during February to 16.23 million (AR) from 16.66 million in January. It was the third straight month of decline. Sales have moved erratically [...]

The Institute for Supply Management reported that, for New York State, their February index of business conditions expected in six months increased to 71.7 and made up most of the prior month's decline. In addition, the reading for [...]

Gasoline prices continued upward by 14 cents last week to $2.47 per gallon (-28.9% y/y) following the prior week's 6 cent increase. Prices have risen 43 cents (21.0%) since the low 5 weeks ago. Despite the gains, prices remained well [...]

Prices in the euro area continue to push lower as weak growth and dropping energy prices undercut the strength from price trends on two separate fronts. As the chart shows, PPI and CPI trends are pressing lower in the EMU. The table [...]

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) [...]