Economy in Brief: 2015

Germany's industrial production was flat in May, but it still carries momentum from the gains in earlier months. Still, the sequential growth rates show deceleration in overall output mostly due to decelerating output of intermediate [...]

Consumers have a strong interest in buying new vehicles these days, even though sales softened a bit in June. During the second quarter, sales rose to 17.15 million (AR), the highest level since Q3 2005. During June, however, sales of [...]

The Labor Market Conditions Index from the Federal Reserve Board includes 19 indicators of labor market activity, covering the broad categories of unemployment and underemployment. These include jobs, workweeks, wages, vacancies, [...]

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Business during June matched expectations and improved slightly to 56.0 from 55.7 in May. Nevertheless, the latest figure remained nearly the lowest [...]

The euro area, perhaps also to be known as the land of bifurcation, has just witnessed a vote in which the Greek people have rejected the EU austerity plan, leaving much of the future for Greece and the euro area itself in limbo. The [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims gained to 281,000 (-10.7% y/y) in the week ended June 27 from an unrevised 271,000 in the prior week. The four week moving average ticked up to 274,750, up slightly from the low in May. The Action [...]

Nonfarm payroll employment during June increased 223,000 (2.1% y/y) following a downwardly revised 254,000 May rise. The latest increase fell short of expectations for 230,000 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Improvement in [...]

Nonfarm payroll employment during June increased 223,000 (2.1% y/y) following a downwardly revised 254,000 May rise. The latest increase fell short of expectations for 230,000 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Improvement in [...]