Economy in Brief

The abrupt drop in average hourly earnings in December to a 3% gain, 50 basis points below the run-rate of the past year, is as much of a surprise as it is a puzzle. How can the wage data show a one-month plunge in earnings growth [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $13.27 billion budget deficit during December compared to a $13.54 billion deficit twelve months earlier. A $14.3 billion deficit had been expected in the Action [...]

U.K. manufacturing industrial production dropped by a sharp 1.7% in November. It was the largest drop since April when manufacturing output fell by an outsized 4.2%. On data back to January 2015, this is the second largest monthly [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 1.7% during the four weeks ended Friday and 3.9% over the last three months. The price index increased 0.8% [...]

Wholesale inventories edged up 0.1% m/m (+3.8% y/y) in October after a downwardly revised 0.7% m/m drop in September (originally -0.4%). The Informa Global Markets Survey had looked for a 0.2% m/m increase. Wholesale sales [...]

Wholesale inventories edged down 0.1% in November (3.3% year-over-year), following an unrevised 0.1% gain in October. The Informa Global Markets Survey anticipated a 0.1% rise in November. Wholesale inventory swings can have a [...]

The labor market ended 2019 with diminished growth. Nonfarm payroll employment increased 145,000 (1.4% y/y) during December after rising 256,000 in November, revised from 266,000. October employment rose 152,000, revised from 156,000. [...]