Economy in Brief: 2020

Many analysts think stock markets are walking on glass or eggshells, but they act like they are walking on sunshine. Alan Greenspan, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman's best-remembered remark about the U.S. stock market was his [...]

• Factory sector activity expands for third straight month. • Breadth of component improvement is wide. • Price index continues to increase. The factory sector remains on a firm footing. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) [...]

• Construction spending ticked up 0.1% in July after four consecutive monthly declines. • Residential jumps 2.1% while public falls 1.3%. • The 5.3% decline in construction since February looks similar to previous recessions. The [...]

• Gasoline prices increase to March 2020 high. • Crude oil prices improve modestly. • Natural gas prices continue to rise. Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.22 per gallon (-13.3% y/y) in the week ended August 31 after rising to [...]

Manufacturing in China has improved and in August it is still expanding. But the PMI in August stepped back a tick to 51.0 from July's 51.1. At a mark of 51.0, it is barely indicating expansion at all. And even the three-month average [...]

• August reading stands at highest level since February 2019. • Components strengthen broadly. • Expectations improve. The Dallas Federal Reserve reported in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity [...]

The overall EMU index shows an ongoing rebound with significant monthly gains, but as of August the queue standing of the index is at its 12.9 percentile and nearly 16 points below its February value. The index rose by 8 points in [...]

• Business activity remains in expansion mode. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer eased to 51.2 in August from 51.9 in July. This is the second month above 50 since June 2019. A reading above 50 suggests rising [...]