Economy in Brief

The manufacturing sector showed a sign of modest improvement following several months of sharp decline in overall activity. The April composite index for the factory sector from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 40.1 from [...]

The manufacturing sector showed a sign of modest improvement following several months of sharp decline in overall activity. The April composite index for the factory sector from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 40.1 from [...]

Weak job markets continue to hold down the increase in labor compensation. For private industry workers, the employment cost index increased by 0.2% last quarter which was less than half the 4Q gain. The gain fell well short of [...]

Any recovery in consumer spending will have to wait. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending during March fell another 0.2% and adjusted for inflation spending also fell 0.2%. These declines followed two [...]

There is actually a bounce in output in Japan this month as over MFG output rose by 1.6% in March. That bounce reduced the annual rate of decline of Japan’s output to a pace of -53.1% over three-months. So while the monthly gain seems [...]

In what may be a sign that the worse for the U.S. job market has passed, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell last week and they have moved slightly lower since the March high. Claims fell to 631,000 from a little revised [...]

Any recovery in consumer spending will have to wait. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending during March fell another 0.2% and adjusted for inflation spending also fell 0.2%. These declines followed two [...]

As evidence that the mortgage refinancing boom has lost steam, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications fell sharply for the second week in the last three. The 18.1% decline last week lowered applications [...]