Economy in Brief: 2015

The job openings rate rose to 3.9% during July, a new high, from 3.6% in June and 3.3% a year ago. The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job [...]

The Quarterly Services Survey is the most timely and comprehensive measure of economic activity in the U.S. service sector. It is conducted by the Census Bureau and covers 5,000 service businesses with paid employees. The Bureau of [...]

The OECD has put a brave face on its new round of leading indicators, portraying the global economy with stable growth. When these indicators are at 100, they are indicating no tendency to accelerate of decelerate so the overall OECD [...]

Consumer credit outstanding increased $19.1 billion during July after rising $27.0 billion in June, which was revised noticeably from $20.7 billion reported before. July expectations were for an $18.0 billion increase, according to [...]

German exports surged by 2.4% in July, more than offsetting the 1.1% drop in June. The euro exchange rate continues weak, bolstering German exports. Exports are outpacing imports handily over three months and six months. But year- [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that the small business outlook was little changed in August. Its Small Business Optimism Index edged up to 95.9 in August from 95.4 in July, but remains below the 96.8 average [...]

Last month's increase in payroll employment disappointed expectations and rose 173,000 (2.1% y/y), the weakest increase since March. A gain of 215,000 had been expected in the Action Economic Forecast Survey. The July increase was, [...]

German orders fell sharply by 1.4% in July, backtracking on most of the gain made in June. The June gain was made on the back of strong foreign orders; similarly, the July drop is on the back of an outsized drop in foreign orders. [...]