Economy in Brief

In December, U.S. sales of light vehicles rose 4.4% from the prior month to 16.75M units, according to the Autodata Corporation. The rise was to the highest level since July. For the full year of 2006, however, vehicle sales fell 2.4% [...]

In December, U.S. sales of light vehicles rose 4.4% from the prior month to 16.75M units, according to the Autodata Corporation. The rise was to the highest level since July. For the full year of 2006, however, vehicle sales fell 2.4% [...]

The German labor markets look quite firm, according to labor force and unemployment data reported today for November and December. Total employment in November was 39.28 million, up 46,000 from October and 411,000 or 1.1% from [...]

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS indicated that chain store sales last week rose 0.3% after three consecutive weeks of double digit increase. The gains lifted December sales 0.5% higher than the November [...]

The total number of mortgage applications ticked up 3.6% last week after two weeks of sharp decline which left the average level of applications in December up 1.1% versus the prior month, according to the Mortgage Bankers [...]

The value of construction put in place in November fell 0,2% though the prior month's sharp drop was revised to more mild 0.3% dip. Nevertheless, it was the sixth decline in the last seven months. Consensus expectations had been for a [...]

The ADP Nat'l Employment Report, reported by the payroll processor, indicated that private nonfarm payrolls declined 40,000 last month. It was the first decline since April 2003. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figure [...]

The composite index of manufacturing activity from the Institute for Supply Management recovered in December to 51.4 from 49.5 the prior month. Consensus expectations had been for less of an improvement to 50.0. During the last ten [...]