Economy in Brief

The Activity Index for the service and construction sectors from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) declined further to 53.1 last month from 54.4 during March. This latest level was the lowest in nine months and disappointed [...]

The labor market rebounded somewhat last month following its March disappointment. Nonfarm payroll employment increased 165,000 (1.6% y/y) during April. That followed upwardly revised gains of 138,000 and 332,000 during the prior two [...]

Nonfarm business sector productivity during Q1'13 rose 0.7% (SAAR). That was a rebound from the 1.7% decline during Q4'12. That left the y/y gain of 0.9% on a par with the slow growth rates of 2011 and 2012. Real output rose at a 2.5% [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit during March declined to $38.8B from $43.6B in February, revised from $43.0B. A $42.5B deficit had been expected. A sharp 2.8% decline in imports (-5.6% y/y) was behind the improvement Exports also were [...]

The manufacturing PMI for the euro area contracted a bit more slowly than in its preliminary estimate. The PMI indicator fell to 46.69 from 46.75, a marginal creep lower in April. Although France continues to be under a lot of [...]

Labor market improvement is continuing. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 324,000 (-12.7% y/y) during the week ended April 27 from a revised 342,000 during the prior week, initially reported as 339,000. Consensus [...]

After several months at the highs for the economic recovery, U.S. vehicle sales have begun to decline. Unit sales of light motor vehicles during April fell 2.3% m/m (+5.7% y/y) to 14.92M (SAAR) according to the Autodata Corporation. [...]

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 also was left [...]