Economy in Brief: 2020

• Component movement was mixed. • Expectations remain depressed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index fell in August to 17.2% from 24.1% during July. It was the [...]

• State initial jobless claims increased to 1.1 million in the week ending August 15, reversing most of the previous week's decline below 1 million. • Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance new filers increased to 542,797. • [...]

• Component movement was mixed. • Expectations remain depressed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index fell in August to 17.2% from 24.1% during July. It was the [...]

The table below pools the data from four different reports to create a picture of how Japan is doing. The pictures all are painted in the same dark colors. The orders data are fresh today even though they lag the data in other surveys [...]

• Crude oil prices show further strength. • Metals and lumber prices jump. The upturn in factory sector activity continues to support industrial materials prices. A 3.3% jump in July industrial output helped lift the Industrial [...]

• Mortgage demand wavers. • Applications to refinance an existing loan decline while purchase applications rise. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index fell 3.3% (+34.3% y/y) during the [...]

German employment growth took the expected hard hit in Q2 as jobs contracted at a 5.3% annual rate quarter-to-quarter. The year-over-year change is a drop of 1.3%. Clearly, the impact of the virus on employment levels has been [...]

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that during the second quarter of this year, retail sales via the internet (E-Commerce) rose 31.8% (SA) from Q1'20. The gain followed increases of 2.4% in Q1 and a 2.2% Q4'19 rise. This strength [...]