Economy in Brief

• Construction spending decreased 0.2% in December. • Upward revisions to previous months suggest little impact on Q4 GDP. • Strong residential construction was offset by weak non-residential, consistent with the Q4 GDP data. The [...]

Manufacturing PMIs show some bounce and lift in January as the average (unweighted average, excluding France and Germany) is up to 50.4, the first value above 50 since April 2019. Still, the ranking of this index is below its median [...]

• Construction spending decreased 0.2% in December. • Upward revisions to previous months suggest little impact on Q4 GDP. • Strong residential construction was offset by weak nonresidential, consistent with the Q4 GDP data. The value [...]

Activity in the factory improved last month. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that its composite index of manufacturing sector activity for January rose to 50.9 after falling to 47.8 in December, revised from 47.2. [...]

The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.7% q/q in 2019 Q3 The employment cost index figures are available in Haver's USECON database. Consensus estimates from the Action Economics survey are in Haver's AS1REPNA [...]

The preliminary GDP results are in for early EMU GDP reporters. The results are not good. I have presented the Q/Q results as compounded growth rates as they are usually presented in the U.S. Europeans tend to report the simple Q/Q [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer declined to 42.9 during January from 48.2 in December. It was the lowest level since December 2015. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 48.2. Readings back through 2017 [...]

• Overall compensation increased 0.7% in Q4 (2.7% y/y), little changed from recent trends. • Wages and salaries up 0.7% (2.9% y/y) while benefits gain 0.5% (2.2% y/y). The employment cost index (ECI) for civilian workers rose 0.7% in [...]