Economy in Brief

• Business activity index in Chicago rises 5.1 points. • Production, new orders, backlogs and inventories contribute to gain. • Employment index declined. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer rose 5.1 points in January [...]

• Spending on durable & nondurable goods moves sharply lower. • Wage growth remains moderate. • Pricing power increases. Consumers remained cautious last month. Personal consumption expenditures declined 0.2% (-2.0% y/y) during [...]

• Overall compensation increased 0.7% in Q4; year-on-year growth accelerates slightly to 2.5%. • Wages and salaries up 0.9% (2.6% y/y) while benefits gain 0.6% (2.3% y/y). The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.7% [...]

• • PREVIOUS>>>>>>>The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to $84.8 billion in November..... • Narrowing larger than expected. • Still, net exports were a meaningful drag on overall GDP growth in Q4. • Export [...]

• • • Leading index rises 0.3% in December as slowdown from the 0.7% gain in November. • Seven components increase, led by ISM manufacturing new orders. • Three decrease, most notably jobless claims. The Conference Board’s Composite [...]

• December sales increase in 2 regions, decrease in 2 regions. • Median price rises 3.5% to new all-time high. Sales of new single-family homes edged upward in December to 842,000 (SAAR), +1.6% m/m and 15.2% y/y. from 829,000 in [...]

The European Commission Index for the EMU area fell to 91.5 in January from 92.4 in December. It ranks in the lower 18.3% of all indexes released since 1988 (its queue or rank standing). The EMU index fell by 1% month-to-month. Among [...]

• Growth continues at quickest rate since November 2018. • Component improvement is broad-based. • Expectations for six months ahead increases. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its manufacturing sector business [...]