Haver Analytics
Haver Analytics

Economy in Brief: March 2008

  • The ADP National Employment Report, from the payroll processor, indicated that private nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000 last month after a slightly revised increase of 119,000 during January.

  • Nonfarm labor productivity growth during 4Q07 was revised little, to 1.9% growth from 1.8% reported initially. The figure still is a marked slowdown from the 3Q figure of 6.3% during 3Q07 which was revised up slightly. Consensus [...]

  • Nonfarm labor productivity growth during 4Q07 was revised little, to 1.9% growth from 1.8% reported initially. The figure still is a marked slowdown from the 3Q figure of 6.3% during 3Q07 which was revised up slightly. Consensus [...]

  • Global| Mar 04 2008

    EMU GDP Growth Decelerates


    EMU GDP rose at an annual rate of 1.5% in Q4 bringing its year/year growth down to 2.2% from 2.6% in 2007-Q3. Private consumption spending fell by 0.3% at an annual rate. Domestic demand in total was flat in the quarter and is rising at a 1.9% annual rate over four quarters. Export growth slowed sharply in the quarter and is showing a decline in its year-over-year rate. Imports fell in Q4 and their growth also has been moderating in 2007. Euro growth shows broad based slowing, but growth that is still holding up. Private consumption is weak and that remains a sticking point within the EMU.

    European GDP EU-13
     GDPConsumptionCapital FormationTradeDomestic
    Demand
    PrivatePublicTotalExcl
    Housing
    HousingX-M:
    Bil Euros
    ExportsImports
    % Change Q/Q; X-M is Q/Q Change in Bil of Euros
    Q4-071.5%-0.3%-0.3%1.0%#N/A#N/A#N/A2.2%-1.5%0.0%
    Q3-073.0%2.0%2.7%8.7%10.4%3.3%-2.38.6%10.3%3.6%
    Q2-071.1%2.5%0.7%-5.6%-5.7%-5.5%5.03.2%1.2%0.3%
    Q1-073.2%0.2%4.4%14.2%16.6%7.1%-2.73.7%5.7%4.0%
    % Change Yr/Yr; X-M is Yr/Yr Change in Gap in Bil of Euros
    Q4-072.2%1.1%1.8%4.3%#N/A#N/A#N/A4.4%3.8%1.9%
    Q3-072.6%1.6%2.2%3.3%3.7%2.1%11.07.1%5.9%2.1%
    Q2-072.4%1.6%2.1%3.1%3.4%2.4%8.85.8%5.0%2.0%
    Q1-073.1%1.4%2.2%7.5%7.8%6.6%6.66.6%6.0%2.9%
    5-Yrs2.0%1.5%1.7%3.8%#N/A#N/Ana5.4%5.5%2.0%

  • The Euro Area PPI rose by 0.8% in January. Excluding energy, prices rose by 0.6%. Headline inflation is accelerating. Ex-energy inflation is stubborn just above the 3% mark. Among the major three categories, inflation is subdued only for capital equipment, rising at a pace of 1.3% year-over-year. Consumer goods inflation is oscillating in the 4% to 5% range over the past year. Intermediate goods prices have been above the 2% mark in recent months. Across the largest EMU economies ex-energy inflation is tame only for Germany. For France and Italy ex-energy inflation is around 3%. In the UK ex-energy inflation is 3.9% and accelerating to over 5% over three months.

    Euro Area and UK PPI Trends
     M/MSAAR
    Euro Area 15Jan-08Dec-073-Mo6-MOYr/YrY/Y Yr Ago
    Total PPI ex Construction0.8%0.1%7.4%6.0%4.9%3.1%
    Excl Energy0.6%0.1%3.1%3.3%3.3%3.5%
    Capital Goods0.3%0.1%1.6%1.4%1.3%2.0%
    Consumer Goods0.5%0.3%4.8%5.6%4.2%1.5%
    Intermediate & Capital Goods0.7%0.0%2.3%2.1%2.8%4.5%
    Energy1.4%0.2%21.9%15.6%10.6%1.6%
    MFG0.5%0.1%5.2%4.7%5.1%2.4%
    Germany PPI0.8%-0.1%6.5%4.6%3.3%3.2%
    Ex Energy0.4%0.0%1.4%2.2%2.5%2.9%
    France PPI0.5%0.1%5.7%5.3%4.9%1.8%
    Ex Energy0.4%0.2%2.9%3.3%3.0%2.8%
    Italy PPI0.4%0.1%6.7%5.9%5.2%4.0%
    Ex Energy0.5%0.0%2.8%2.8%3.0%4.4%
    UK PPI1.3%1.3%24.8%18.7%7.9%-1.4%
    Ex Energy1.0%0.3%5.7%4.6%3.9%3.2%
    Euro Area 15 Harmonized PPI excluding Construction
    The EA 15 countries are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
  • Contrary to the slowdowns taking place in the United States and Western Europe both Slovakia and Romania reported increases in economic activity in the last quarter of 2007. Slovakia reported a resounding increase of 14.26% and [...]

  • The International Council of Shopping Centers ICSC-UBS Chain Store survey indicated that chain store sales fell 0.6% last week. The decline finished a four week period during which sales moved sideways. However, due to a firm 1.7% [...]

  • With just a 0.3% m/m uptick, the increase in U.S. sales of light vehicles last month did little to recover a 5.4% January drop. At a 15.38M unit annual selling rate, sales remained quite low. According to the Autodata Corporation [...]