Economy in Brief

Factory inventory levels continued to plummet during January. The 0.8% monthly decline was the fifth in a row and lowered inventories by 4.5% from their August peak. To be sure, these figures have been influenced by the decline in oil [...]

During last year's fourth quarter, labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector fell 0.4% (AR), revised down sharply from last month's indication of a 3.2% increase. The downward revision to 4Q08, however, was offset by upward [...]

Weakness in the U.S. labor market eased slightly last week. A 31,000 decline in initial claims for unemployment insurance reversed the gain recorded in the prior week, which had brought claims to a level not seen since 1982. The Labor [...]

During last year's fourth quarter, labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector fell 0.4% (AR), revised down sharply from last month's indication of a 3.2% increase. The downward revision to 4Q08, however, was offset by upward [...]

This trend is not a friend - In our select group of EMU members (see table) all show month-to-month deterioration in services activity. Meanwhile, the UK continues to cut losses relative to its November low. The US follows a pattern [...]

Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that February job cut announcements eased slightly to 186,350 following 241,749 layoffs during January. Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans reversed much of the strong January [...]

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 [...]