Economy in Brief: February 2021

• Business activity index reverses most of January's increase. • Declines in new orders & production lead the decline. • Employment and prices improve. The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February [...]

Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December; that breaks a two-month slide in output. Total industry output is still lower by 1.4% over 12 months. The robust gain gets the new quarter off to a strong start with [...]

• Income boosted by government payments of $600 to individuals. • Spending growth strengthens for goods & services. • Pricing power remains improved. Personal income jumped 10.0% (13.1% y/y) last month after increasing 0.6% during [...]

• A small narrowing had been expected. • Both exports and imports increased but at a slower pace than in December. • Net exports begin Q1 on course to be a slight drag on overall GDP growth in Q1. The advance estimate of the U.S. [...]

• PREVIOUS>>>>>>>>>>>Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 13,000 in the week ended February 13 to 861,000...... For more details, please see the September 3 commentary on jobless claims. Data on weekly unemployment claims [...]

• Growth continues at quickest rate since June 2018. • Component improvement is widespread. • Expectations for six months ahead broadly strengthen. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its manufacturing sector [...]

The EU Commission Index for the EMU shows an improvement to 93.4 in February from 91.5 in January putting the index back on the rise after a month in which the index fell. Ranking the current value on the index in a queue of its [...]

• Year-end GDP growth remains markedly below Q3's growth with broad-based component weakening. • Decline in activity during all of 2020 remains largest of post-WWII period. • Price gains remain lower in Q4. Real GDP rose 4.1% (SAAR) [...]