Economy in Brief

• Passenger car sales ease slightly. • Sales of light trucks fall for second straight month. • Imports share of market improves. Buyers of light vehicles pared back spending last month and added to October's weakness. The Autodata [...]

The manufacturing PMIs show that improvement vs. deterioration trends month-to-month are pretty even for November with nine reporters lower, eight higher and one unchanged (Mexico, by assumption, using October's data for November to [...]

• Factory activity weakens as coronavirus surges. • New orders, production and employment series ease. • Price index remains strong. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its Composite Index of Manufacturing Sector [...]

• Construction spending increased 1.3% in October with net upward revisions to previous two months. • Residential jumps 2.9%; continued weakness in nonresidential. • Public increases for first time since May. • Total spending now just [...]

• Gasoline prices improve. • Crude oil costs continue to rise. • Natural gas prices move lower. The price of regular gasoline improved last week, rising to $2.12 per gallon (-17.7% y/y) and reversing the prior week's decline to $2.10. [...]

• General business index slipped. • Production cratered but employment improved. • Expectations index eased. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey General Business Activity Index fell [...]

• Business activity index falls to three-month low. • Production, orders and inventories decline. • Pricing power strengthens. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer eased to 58.2 during November from October's 61.1. It [...]

China's manufacturing PMI moved up to a reading of 52.1 in November from 51.4 in October after posing readings in the 51 area for four months in a row. The break-out gain is the highest reading since September 2017. The index has not [...]