Economy in Brief: October 2015

The Chicago Business Barometer rebounded to 56.2 in October following its sharp September decline to 48.7. This is the highest reading since January. Expectations had been for 49.7 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers improved 0.6% in Q3'15 (1.9% y/y), following an unrevised zero change during Q2. The number matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The index for the [...]

Personal consumption expenditures edged 0.1% higher (3.4% y/y) during September following an unrevised 0.4% August increase. It was the smallest gain since January and missed expectations for a 0.2% rise in the Action Economics [...]

The unemployment rate ticked lower in both the EU and the EMU in September. EMU area unemployment now stands at 10.8% with EU unemployment at 9.3%. Both are still high and in the neighborhood of where U.S. unemployment would be today [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 1,000 during the week ended October 24 to 260,000. The prior week's level was unrevised. The figure remained near the November 1973 low. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes fell 2.3% during September (+2.5% y/y) following an unrevised 1.4% August decline. Expectations were for a 1.0% increase according to [...]

The economy grew 1.5% (AR) last quarter following a 3.9% Q2 increase. The shedding of inventories sapped 1.4 percentage points from growth, reversing modest accumulation during the prior six months. Inventory decumulation came as [...]

The EU and EMU indices are split this month with the EMU area improving and the broader EU index that includes EMU nations deteriorating. Still, only five of 16 EMU nations showed deteriorated indices in October. The overall EU index [...]