Economy in Brief: December 2019

The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles during November rose 3.7% (-1.3% y/y) to 17.20 million units (SAAR) and reversed most of the prior month's decline to 16.58 million. During the first eleven months of [...]

Retail gasoline prices held steady last week at $2.58 per gallon (+5.1% y/y). Typically, gasoline prices weaken this time of year. After applying the seasonal factor constructed by Haver Analytics, gasoline prices increased to $2.69 [...]

The value of construction put-in-place fell 0.8% (+1.1% y/y) during October following a 0.3% September decline, revised from +0.5%. August's 1.1% increase was revised from -0.3%. A 0.4% October rise had been expected in the Action [...]

The ISM Manufacturing Diffusion Index eased to 48.1 during November after rising slightly to 48.3 in October. A reading of 49.1 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Since 2009, there has been a 71% correlation [...]