Economy in Brief

The unweighted average and median composite PMIs across 22 global economies both eased slightly lower in August, but both measures stayed above 50 showing ongoing expansion. However, with the average at 50.9 and the median at 51.2, [...]

• Imports strengthen; oil prices jump. • Export gain remains firm. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services ballooned to $63.56 during July from $53.46 billion in June, revised from $50.7 billion. A $52.7 billion deficit had been [...]

• A shift from multiplicative to additive seasonal factors causes break in seasonally adjusted data, shifting focus to not-seasonally-adjusted data. • Not seasonally adjusted state initial jobless claims rose to 833,352 in the week [...]

• Output per hour growth revised up on a smaller fall in output than initially estimated. • The rise in unit labor costs revised down on stronger productivity and slightly weaker compensation growth. In the second quarter of 2020, [...]

Germany's retail sales slipped in July falling by 0.3% despite substantial government efforts to support growth and consumer spending. Some had the hoped that with stimulus Germany might become a bit of a locomotive for European [...]

• Factory orders strength is broad-based. • Motor vehicle shipments are exceptionally strong. • Inventory decumulation is widespread. New orders for manufactured goods increased 6.4% (-6.2% y/y) during July and repeated the June gain, [...]

• Medium-sized payrolls recover, while large payroll growth improves further. • Employment gain falls short of expectations. Labor market improvement continued during August. The ADP National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm [...]

• Applications for both purchase and refinancing loans fell. • The rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined and is only 3 basis points above its all-time low reached on August 7. Even though fixed mortgage interest rates fell [...]