Economy in Brief

Germany's industrial output fell by 0.6% in July, having fallen for two months running. It has also fallen in three of the last four months with the only rise being a tiny 0.1% gain in May. This is a clear weak stretch for German [...]

Job growth continues to decelerate. Nonfarm payrolls increased 130,000 (1.4% y/y) during August following a 159,000 July rise, revised from 164,000. June's increase also was revised lower to 178,000 from 193,000. A 163,000 August [...]

Manufacturers' orders rose 1.4% during July (0.3% y/y) following a little-revised 0.5% June gain. The Action Economics Forecast survey expected a 1.2% increase. Durable goods orders jumped 2.0% (0.6% y/y) after a 1.8% decline. The [...]

The German condition German orders have been declining long enough and the decline has been substantial enough that talk of a German recession has emerged. This month's report will not put a stop to it. The government has spoken of a [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) increased to 56.4 during August from 53.7 in July. It was the highest level in three months but remained sharply below the high of [...]

Hiring in the private sector accelerated last month. The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 195,000 (1.7% y/y) during August following a 142,000 July gain, revised from 156,000. Payrolls [...]

Minor revisions in Productivity growth coupled with continued increases in unit labor costs Productivity in the nonfarm business sector grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3% during Q2'19 (1.8% year-on-year) unchanged from [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending August 31 increased 1,000 to 217,000 (3.3% y/y), a three-week high, from 216,000 in the prior week which was upwardly revised from 215,000. The Action Economics Forecast [...]