Economy in Brief: 2021

A super-fast rise in commodity prices is underway. It should not be a surprise that as the world economy re-opens, commodity prices start to rise to reflect more robust demand conditions. But what has been surprising is the speed and [...]

• Gain in factory orders driven by durable goods. • Shipments continue to strengthen. • Order backlogs & inventories edge higher. Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January after improving [...]

• • PREVIOUS>>>>>>>>>>Initial jobless insurance claims declined 111,000 in the week ended February 20 to 730,000 from 841,000 in the prior week PREVIOUS>>>>>>>Continuing claims for regular state unemployment insurance fell to 4.419 [...]

The overall EMU unemployment rate was steady in January, off peak, but still elevated. In January of the early members, nine have reported unemployment rates for January. Of those nine, four of them have lower unemployment rates. [...]

• PUA claims extend slightly higher range. • Continuing claims again extend their downward trend. • Insured jobless rate decreases for a sixth week. Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the [...]

• Nonfarm worker productivity remains deepest drop in forty years. • Compensation increases moderately. • Unit labor costs surge shaved. Revisions to nonfarm business sector productivity indicated a 4.2% decline during Q4'20 (SAAR, [...]

While manufacturing climbs higher, the services sector remains stuck and nearly unresponsive to stimulus efforts. However, the global services sector did pick up in February rising to 52.8 from 51.6 in January. Emerging markets barely [...]

• Service sector activity declines to lowest level since May. • New orders post biggest component drop. • Pricing improves as delivery speeds slow. The Composite Index of Services Activity from the Institute for Supply Management [...]