Economy in Brief: December 2020

• • • PREVIOUS>>>>>>Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased to 803,000 in the week ended December 19.......... Data on weekly unemployment claims going back to 1967 are contained in Haver's WEEKLY [...]

• • • PREVIOUS>>>>>>>Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased to 803,000 in the week ended December 19.......... Data on weekly unemployment claims going back to 1967 are contained in Haver's WEEKLY [...]

• State initial claims lower than forecast. • PUA initial claims also down. • Legislation renewing PUA and PEUC through March 11 was signed last weekend. Initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased again in the week ended [...]

China's manufacturing PMI backtracked slightly in December, falling to 51.9 after reaching 52.1 in November. It is still above its October level. However, at a level below 52, the indicator is signaling a still very modest [...]

European inflation trends are showing some life, but it is still not much life. It is sporadic and seems to be driven mostly by the oil price cycle, a cycle that is still not looking so good into 2021 so there is probably not much to [...]

• Business activity index rises in December after falling to three-month low in November. • Production, order backlogs, employment and inventories gain. • New orders slide. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer rebounded [...]

• Pending home sales fall for the third straight month. • Sales drop in all the major regions. Pending home sales fell 2.6% (+16.4% y/y) in November, the third consecutive m/m fall, after a 0.9% drop in October, according to data [...]

• Widening much larger than expected. • Net exports to be drag on overall GDP growth in Q4. • Export growth slows while import gain accelerates. The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to $84.8 billion in [...]