Economy in Brief: 2021

• Nonfarm worker productivity posts deepest drop in forty years. • Compensation increases moderately. • Unit labor costs surge. Nonfarm business sector productivity declined 4.8% (SAAR, +2.5% y/y) during Q4'20 following a 5.1% Q3 [...]

The J.P.Morgan global PMI index is weaker month-to-month in January 2021. Emerging markets are weaker on the month, but developed economies are slightly stronger. In January, 10 of 22 countries report weaker conditions than one month [...]

• Service sector activity improves for third straight month. • Component activity remains mixed. • Pricing power is little changed. The Composite Index of Services Activity from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 58.7 during [...]

• Job increase more-than-recoups December decline. • Broad-based sector gains are logged. • Medium-sized payrolls post strongest increase. Despite the COVID-19 epidemic and winter weather, the labor market improved last month. The ADP [...]

• Led by surge in refinancing applications; purchase applications little changed. • Fixed mortgage interest rates mixed while adjustable rates jumped up. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index rebounded in [...]

• Sales of light trucks lead the improvement. • Domestic passenger car sales falter. • Imports' share of vehicle market improves. Light vehicle sales improved last month. The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles [...]

The EMU region has just released its GDP growth rate which fell by 2.8% (saar) in Q4. Of the six early EMU reporters in the table, only two, Italy and France, showed GDP declines in Q4. This, however, is an odd quarter as it is the [...]

• Gasoline prices continue to rise. • Oil prices ease slightly. • Natural gas prices bounce back. The price of regular gasoline increased to $2.41 per gallon (-1.9% y/y) in the week ended February 1 from $2.39 per gallon in the [...]