Economy in Brief: 2015

Today's Labor Department report on unemployment insurance applications suggests that the job market remains firm. Initial claims rose to 277,000 (-5.3% y/y) during the week ended September 26 from an unrevised 267,000 during the prior [...]

Today's Labor Department report on unemployment insurance applications suggests that the job market remains firm. Initial claims rose to 277,000 (-5.3% y/y) during the week ended September 26 from an unrevised 267,000 during the prior [...]

Today's Labor Department report on unemployment insurance applications suggests that the job market remains firm. Initial claims rose to 277,000 (-5.3% y/y) during the week ended September 26 from an unrevised 267,000 during the prior [...]

The Chicago Business Barometer plummeted to 48.7 in September from 54.4 in August. This is lowest reading since May 2015 and was led by sharp declines in production and new orders. The drop in the index to below 50 points to a [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report shows a nonfarm private sector payroll gain of 200,000 in September, after August's 186,000; August was revised minimally from 190,000 reported before. The September figure was slightly more [...]

Europe gets another taste of deflation as its unemployment rate hangs high. European (EU) unemployment came in at 9.5% for the second consecutive month in August. In the EMU, the unemployment rate is lodged at a much higher level, at [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index in September unexpectedly added to its outsized August gains. The overall index rose 1.7% in September from August to 103.0 on top of a 11.3%m/m jump in August. The September reading [...]

Gasoline prices at the pump were fairly stable last week at $2.32 per gallon (-30.8% y/y) but remained below $2.84 in mid-June. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump prices. The seasonally [...]