Economy in Brief: April 2018

U.S. economic growth continued to slow in Q1'18. In the advance estimate, gross domestic product grew at a 2.3% annual rate following Q4'17 growth of 2.9% and a 3.2% gain during Q3'17. A 2.1% increase had been expected in the Action [...]

The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.8% q/q in Q1 2018, tying Q1 2017 as the strongest quarterly move since late 2007. This Q1 move firmed from 0.6% in Q4 2017 and generated a y/y rise of 2.7%, the same as in [...]

U.S. economic growth continued to slow in Q1'18. In the advance estimate, gross domestic product grew at a 2.3% annual rate following Q4'17 growth of 2.9% and a 3.2% gain during Q3'17. A 2.1% increase had been expected in the Action [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity surged to a record 26 in April following stability during the prior two months at 17. The index was up from its low of [...]

Judging from consumer confidence, the largest European economies would seem to be in fine shape. German confidence for May is mooted at a 97.8% queue percentile standing, better only 2% of the time. Italy has exactly the same queue [...]

New orders for durable goods increased 2.6% (9.5% y/y) during March following a 3.5% February rise, revised from 3.1%. Expectations had been for a 1.5% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Stronger orders for transportation [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 209,000 (-17.1% y/y) from a revised 233,000 in the prior week, initially reported as 232,000. Expectations had been for 231,000 initial claims in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Japan’s sector indexes showed a solid gain in February, but it’s less than expected and it brings the business activity index to a level that is barely above its level of last October. The METI indexes are at relatively high marks as [...]