Economy in Brief

The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.6% (+3.3% y/y) during June after a revised 1.3% May jump, initially reported as 0.5%. April's increase also was revised up to 1.1% from 0.1%. A 0.3% rise in activity had been expected. [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that 37,701 job cuts (2.3% y/y) were announced during July, down from 39,372 during June. This latest level remained near the low end of the range in place since last [...]

Factory sector business heated up last month. The Composite Index of Manufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management jumped to 55.4 during July from an unrevised 50.9 in June. The figure was its highest level [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 326,000 (-10.9% y/y) during the week ended July 27 from 345,000 in the prior week, initially reported as 343,000. It was the lowest reading since January 2008. The latest [...]

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee today left the Federal funds rate in a range from 0 to 1/4 percent. The Fed funds rate has remained unchanged since late-2008 at its lowest level ever. The discount rate was left at [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers advanced 0.6% (1.9% y/y) in Q2'13, following an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in Q1. The result was stronger than consensus expectations for 0.4%. Q1 and the prior couple of [...]

The rate of new job creation remains positive. The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report showed a 200,000 rise (1.8% y/y) in non-farm private sector jobs this month. That followed revised increases of 198,000 and 141,000 during June [...]

Retail sales in Germany fell unexpectedly in June by 1.2% after gaining 1% in May. With data for the quarter now complete, retail sales ex- autos are rising at a 1.9% annual rate in the second quarter in Germany. Car sales, or [...]