Economy in Brief

The Composite Index for the nonmanufacturing sector from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) slipped in February to 41.6 from an unrevised January reading of 42.9. Consensus expectations were for a somewhat larger decline to [...]

The payroll processor ADP indicated in its latest National Employment Report that private nonfarm payrolls fell 697,000 last month. That followed a 614,000 decline during January which was revised from the initial estimate of a [...]

The payroll processor ADP indicated in its latest National Employment Report that private nonfarm payrolls fell 697,000 last month. That followed a 614,000 decline during January which was revised from the initial estimate of a [...]

The Australian Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.25% today after reductions of 400 basis points over the last seven months, as shown in the first chart. Governor Glenn Stevens, in announcing the decision, remarked [...]

What can be said about the decline in U.S. vehicle sales that hasn't already been noted? It's been picking up momentum recently. It's been to the lowest level since 1982. It's been broad-based across manufacturers and product type. [...]

Swiss GDP is taking a hit like the rest of European GDP. Capital formation in Switzerland is being hit especially hard. Switzerland, the graph above shows, has been somewhat resistant to decline in its GDP aggregate until recently [...]

Chain store sales dipped 0.6% last week (Feb.28) and that did reverse the prior week's increase, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Index. But the combination of large gains at the end of January [...]

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, regular gasoline prices rose two cents last week and the increase left them in the middle of the $1.89 to $1.96 range in place since early February. At an average $1.93 per gallon prices [...]