Economy in Brief

• Construction spending scaled back for the fourth straight month. • Residential building leads the way lower. Construction activity remains weak. The value of construction put-in-place eased 0.7% (+0.1 y/y) during June following a [...]

Manufacturing largely improved in July and it has been improving in the past few months. But the sector is coming out of a period of extraordinary weakness. So this is more like a patient improving in intensive care after surgery than [...]

• Composite Index is above break-even for a second straight month. • Most component series improve. • Price index increases further. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its Composite Index of Manufacturing Sector [...]

• Spending gain is strong for second consecutive month. • Personal income decline reflects fewer government payments. • Price inflation picks up with higher energy prices. Personal consumption expenditures increased 5.6% in June [...]

• The gain surpasses expectations. • Component improvement is broad-based. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer improved to 51.9 during July from 36.6 in June. It was the highest reading since May 2019, up from a low of [...]

• Spending gain is strong for second consecutive month. • Personal income decline reflects fewer government payments. • Price inflation picks up with higher energy prices. Personal consumption expenditures increased 5.6% in June [...]

• Growth of overall compensation slowed to 0.5% q/q in 2020 Q2, slightly below expectations. • Wages and salaries growth accounted for the slowdown while benefits picked up. The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose [...]

Japan's industrial production gained 2.7% in June after an 8.9% fall in May and a bigger drop in April. While the various growth rates over different tenors (see Chart) are slowing over more recent horizons, there is no reversal in [...]