Economy in Brief: March 2016

Europe, where consumer is king...yes I said Europe It is no secret that Europe has been driven by its services sector nor is it a secret that retailing has been the strongest of the sectors in the EU Commission indicator framework. [...]

Chicago purchasing managers reported that their March Business Barometer Index jumped to 53.6, after declining to 47.6 in February. The latest reading beat expectations for a smaller rise to 49.4 in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during March fell to 48,207 (+31.7% y/y) following the prior month's unrevised decline to 61,599. The latest was the lowest level in three [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 276,000 during the week ended March 26 from an unrevised 265,000 in the prior week. It was the highest level in eight weeks. Expectations were for 266,000 claims in the Action [...]

The EU indices for March remind us that since year end the circumstances in Europe have eroded. Around December several large EMU members were seeing a local high in their respective sentiment gauges, a high that has since unwound. [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 1.0% last week (+0.8% y/y), following two weeks of 3.3% decline. Refinancing applications dropped 3.3% (-11.2% y/y), the sixth consecutive [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls rose 200,000 (2.1% y/y) during March following a 205,000 February increase, revised from 214,000. The latest gain was firmer than expectations [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index during March increased 2.3% (-5.1% y/y) to 96.2 from 94.0 in February, revised from 92.2. The latest figure compared to an expected 93.5 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During [...]