Economy in Brief: July 2015

Chicago purchasing managers reported that their July Business Barometer Index improved to 54.7 following an unrevised rise to 49.4 in June. It was first month in the last three above the break-even level of 50 and the highest level [...]

The employment cost index for civilian workers improved 0.2% in Q2'15 (2.0% y/y), following an unrevised 0.7% Q1 rise. This Q2 performance was the weakest on record and the number fell short of expectations for a 0.6% rise according [...]

he EU unemployment rate is unchanged in June at 9.6%. The EMU rate is at 11.1%, also unchanged from the previous month. The unemployment rate is still falling in both the EU and the EMU over three months, six months and 12 months. But [...]

The Census Bureau has begun to publish an advance report on U.S. international trade in goods. The BEA will incorporate these data into its estimates of exports and imports for the advance GDP estimates. This is expected to reduce the [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 267,000 (-10.6% y/y) during the week ended July 25 from an unrevised 255,000 during the prior week. The latest figure was just above the lowest since November 1973. The four-week [...]

The Commerce Department estimated that overall economic growth accelerated to 2.3% last quarter (SAAR) versus a 0.6% Q1 increase, revised from -0.2%. It was the quickest rate of growth since Q3 2014 but it missed expectations for a [...]

The overall index for the EU moved to 106.6 in July from 105.5 in June to notch a 69.5 percentile standing for the EU countries. The EMU gauge rose by 0.5% to stand at 104 in July, posting a queue standing at its 60.5 percentile. The [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated that growth in consumer spending is moderate and the housing sector shows signs of improvement. Together with soft business investment and net exports, the [...]