Economy in Brief: January 2017

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer Index declined to 50.3 in January after a fall to 53.9 in December. The latest figure was the lowest since May. The January reading disappointed expectations for 55.0 in the Action [...]

The European Monetary Union (EMU) is at one of those crucial policy crossroads where priorities begin to shift. So far, the ECB is holding fast onto its old program of economic stimulus. But unemployment has now fallen to a seven-year [...]

The Conference Board Index of Consumer Confidence indicated that its headline consumer confidence index for January declined to 111.8, following its December rise to a 15-year high. Also, December's reading was revised down slightly [...]

The employment cost index for civilian workers rose 0.5% (2.2% y/y) during Q4'16, down slightly from the 0.6% Q3 gain. A 0.6% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Wages and salaries increased 0.5% (2.4% y/y) [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicated in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity Index surged to 22.1 during January, the strongest reading since March 2010. Most of the survey indicators [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales increased 1.6% m/m (0.3% y/y) in December after an unrevised 2.5% November decline. These sales are reported as an index with 2001=100. During all of last [...]

The EU area index compiled by the EU Commission fell in January while the EMU area index rose for the fourth month in a row. The EU index sits in the 77th percentile of its historic queue of values while the EMU index resides in the [...]

Personal income increased 0.3% (3.5% y/y) during December following a 0.1% November uptick, initially reported as no change. A 0.4% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of 2016, income grew 3.5%, [...]