Economy in Brief: 2017

Manufacturing sector orders declined 3.3% during July (+5.4% y/y) following a 3.2% June gain, revised from 3.0%. Durable goods orders reversed June's increase with a 6.8% drop (+4.4% y/y). Transportation sector orders were off 19.2% [...]

The service sector PMIs for the largest EU and EMU members took a step back in August everywhere but in Germany. But unlike many measures where Germany is the exception, and is so because it is so much stronger than the rest of [...]

The market for new motor vehicles has deteriorated markedly this year. Total sales of light vehicles declined 3.7% during August (-6.3% y/y) to 16.14 million units (SAAR) from 16.77 million in July, according to the Autodata [...]

Construction spending fell 0.6% in July with private spending falling 0.4% and public spending dropping 1.4%. Within the private sector, residential spending continued to expand, gaining 0.8% in the month while nonresidential spending [...]

The job market weakened noticeably last month. Nonfarm payrolls increased 156,000 (1.5% y/y) during August following a 189,000 July increase and a 210,000 June gain. Together these two figures were revised down by 41,000. A 183,000 [...]

The ISM manufacturing index moved up sharply to 58.8 in August from 56.3 in July. The regional Fed manufacturing surveys have been very strong and are fully consistent with this result. This month was unusual as the U.S. employment [...]

Japan's manufacturing diffusion PMI gains to 52.2 in August from 52.1 in July. The manufacturing sector is showing growth, but it has no momentum. As it turns out, that is a theme for early PMI reports in Asia. The August reading is a [...]

The job market weakened substantially last month. Nonfarm payrolls increased 156,000 (1.5% y/y) during August following a 189,000 July increase and a 210,000 June gain. Together these two figures were revised down by 41,000. A 183,000 [...]