Economy in Brief

The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 230,000 (2.0% year-on-year) in September from a slightly upwardly revised 168,000 in August (was 163,000). September's figure handily beat [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index was unchanged (-14.8% y/y) in the week ending September 28 following a 2.9% w/w increase in the preceding week. Purchase loan applications edged up [...]

Total sales of light vehicles of 16.72 million units (SAAR) in August (0.8% y/y)......... U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. Sep Aug Jul Sep Y/Y % 2017 2016 2015 Total 17.24 16.72 16.77 0.8 17.23 17.55 [...]

Sales of light vehicles totaled 17.44 million units (SAAR) in September, up 4.3% on the month but down 4.0% on the year. August's sales had been 16.72 million. The September results were the strongest since November 2017, when they [...]

The EMU PPI has decelerated in August, but it is only a technical deceleration with the year-on-year rate falling to 4.2% from July's 4.3%. Year-on-year PPI inflation remains elevated. While oil price pressures have dissipated, [...]

The ISM composite index of activity in the factory sector decreased to 59.8 in September from 61.3 in August. A reading of 60.1 was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During the last ten years, there has been a 74% [...]

Construction spending shows weakness up and down the line for the private sector in August. Residential spending is lower by 0.7% and nonresidential spending is lower by 0.2%. Nonresidential spending sees declines in commercial, [...]

The quarterly Tankan Survey is Japan's most important economic assessment. The reading for large manufacturing firms is the bellwether for the report. The large firm index is off for the third quarter running and some are making a lot [...]