Economy in Brief: 2020

• Monthly decline follows record drop in April. • Employment drops in all sectors. • Factory payrolls remain notably hard hit. Job market weakness continued last month, although the rate of decline moderated versus April. The ADP [...]

• Mortgage applications decreased 3.9% in week ending May 29. • Refinancing applications dropped 8.6%, the seventh consecutive weekly decline. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index [...]

• Car & light truck sales both rise. • Sales remain 28.6% below the February level. • Fewer vehicle sales have been meaningful drag on economic growth. The Autodata Corporation reported that sales of light vehicles strengthened 41.5% [...]

The closely watched Nationwide Survey of U.K. home prices produced a 1.7% m/m drop in May. This was the first monthly price drop in the Nationwide series since September of last year when prices ticked lower by 0.1% m/m. The May 1.7% [...]

• Gasoline prices edge higher to eight-week high. • Crude oil prices continue to increase. • Natural gas prices ease. As parts of the economy slowly reopened, the pump price for a gallon of gasoline edged up to $1.97 (-29.7% y/y) in [...]

Manufacturing PMIs rose on broad front in May. Among those listed in the table, only three countries Japan, Taiwan and South Korea showed further manufacturing deterioration. China has been so weak so persistently that its very modest [...]

• The Composite Index remained below the break-even level of 50 for the third straight month. • Monthly improvement in the component series was widespread. • The prices index rose moderately. The coronavirus exhibited less of a [...]

• Construction spending dropped 2.9% in April with net upward revisions to previous months. • April's decline is small compared to other economic statics; looks closer to recent recessions. The value of construction put-in-place fell [...]