Economy in Brief: 2019

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) increased to 56.4 during August from 53.7 in July. It was the highest level in three months but remained sharply below the high of [...]

Hiring in the private sector accelerated last month. The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 195,000 (1.7% y/y) during August following a 142,000 July gain, revised from 156,000. Payrolls [...]

Minor revisions in Productivity growth coupled with continued increases in unit labor costs Productivity in the nonfarm business sector grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3% during Q2'19 (1.8% year-on-year) unchanged from [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending August 31 increased 1,000 to 217,000 (3.3% y/y), a three-week high, from 216,000 in the prior week which was upwardly revised from 215,000. The Action Economics Forecast [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services eased to $54.0 billion during July from $55.5 billion in June..... The international trade data, including relevant data on oil prices, can be found in Haver's USECON database. Detailed [...]

Globally, composite PMIs in August generally firmed a bit while manufacturing remained weak and mixed month-to-month with a small tilt to improvement. Viewed on data over the last four and two-thirds years, manufacturing in the seven [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index fell 3.1% w/w (+62.6% y/y) during the week ending August 30, following a 6.2% decline in the previous week. Applications to refinance a loan slumped [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services eased to $54.0 billion during July from $55.5 billion in June, revised from $55.2 billion. A $54.0 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Exports of [...]