Economy in Brief

The Institute for Supply Management indicated that its July Composite Index of factory sector activity dropped sharply to 50.9 from an unrevised 55.3 in June. The figure was nearly the lowest since the economic recovery began two [...]

On balance, industrial commodity prices have been moving sideways since the spring. At 174.8, the latest price index reading from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER), which covers industrial [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.8% in Q2 for total compensation versus an unrevised 0.5% Q1 rise. The Q2 increase beat expectations for a 0.5% rise as tallied by Bloomberg. The four-quarter gain of 2.3% [...]

Retail sales (ex-autos) in Germany are gyrating, showing sharp fluctuations in the last two months. While retail sales soared in June vehicle registrations tanked. When retail sales fell in May vehicle registrations fell. There is no [...]

The Commerce Department reported that real GDP grew just 1.3% (SAAR) last quarter. The figure was disappointing for several reasons. It fell short of Consensus expectations for 1.7% growth and it was the softest reading since Q2'09. [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of existing single-family homes rose 2.4% last month after an unrevised 8.2% May increase. Despite the recent improvement, sales for the second quarter fell 3.4% [...]

EU sentiment is on the downslope. The rate of increase is slowing steadily on its Yr/Yr comparisons (see chart) and the monthly numbers are clustering around negative readings. The index standings are no longer high to moderate. [...]

In a sign of labor market healing, initial unemployment insurance claims fell last week to 398,000 versus a revised 422,000 during the week prior, initially reported as 418,000. The latest figure was the lowest since the first week of [...]