Economy in Brief

• Natural gas prices rose further as seasonal demand increased and supply tightened. • Energy product demand declined while inventories rose. Natural gas prices posted another marked weekly increase in the week ended October 30, [...]

The global news-flow on COVID-19 has darkened in recent weeks and that will surely sour the economic outlook. A second wave is well and truly underway in many major economies (see figure 1) and policymakers have responded in some [...]

• Construction spending increased just 0.3% in September, with August revised down and July revised somewhat higher. • Residential showing consistently sizable increases; nonresidential down three months in a row. • Both state & local [...]

The global manufacturing sector continues to recover or move toward recovery after the initial body slam from the coronavirus and the policies engaged to corral it. And while October data continue to paint a picture of ongoing [...]

• Factory sector activity strengthens to firmest level in two years. • Component performance is uniformly improved. • Price index continues to increase. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its Composite Index of [...]

• Construction spending increased just 0.3% in September, with August revised down and July revised somewhat higher. • Residential showing consistently sizable increases; nonresidential down three months in a row. • Both state & local [...]

• Overall compensation increased 0.5% in Q3 with year-on-year growth slowing to 2.4%. • Wages and salaries up 0.4% (2.5% y/y) while benefits gain 0.6% (2.3% y/y). The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.5% in the [...]

• Employment remains weak. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer eased to 61.1 during October from 62.4 in September, but the sharp improvement from the May low of 32.3 is largely intact. Note that a reading above 50 [...]