Economy in Brief

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for all of January rose to 73.8 (-1.6% y/y) from 72.9 in December. The figure was higher than the mid-month reading of 71.3 but still was down sharply from the November high of [...]

Activity is improving in the factory sector. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its January composite index of manufacturing activity rose to 53.1 from a revised 50.2 in December. The latest beat expectations for a [...]

Growth in the job market continued last month. The 157,000 (1.5% y/y) rise in January payroll employment roughly matched expectations but gains throughout 2012 were revised higher. (Establishment survey variables were revised back to [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.5% in Q4'12 versus an unrevised 0.4% Q3 rise. The latest increase in total compensation matched expectations as compiled by Bloomberg. The full-year rise of 1.9% was down [...]

Japan's index of industrial production rebounded strongly in December rising 2.5% after falling by 1.4% in November. Three-month growth rate is now up to an annual rate of 11.6, up sharply from a contracting -7.8% pace over 6-months [...]

Personal income jumped 2.6% (6.9% y/y) last month after a revised 1.0% November gain, initially reported as 0.6%. A 0.8% rise was the consensus expectation. Last month's jump centered on a 34.3% surge (49.6% y/y) in dividend income. [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that 40,430 job cuts were announced during January. The latest level was up slightly from December but still near the economic recovery low. During the last ten years [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 368,000 (-3.4% y/y) during the week ended January 26 versus an unrevised 330,000 a week earlier. Consensus expectations were for 350,000 claims. The four week moving average of claims [...]