Economy in Brief

The value of construction put-in-place eased 0.1% (+4.9% y/y) during October. The weakening was the same as in September, revised from no change. It followed a 0.4% August decline, revised from +0.8%. A 0.4% increase had been expected [...]

The ISM composite index of business activity in the factory sector increased to 59.3 during November after a decline to 57.7 in October. A reading of 57.5 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During the last ten [...]

The National Association for Business Economics projects 2.7% growth in real GDP during 2019, unchanged from the prior forecast in June. That follows an expected 2.9% rise this year, revised from the earlier forecast of 2.8% growth. [...]

The National Association for Business Economics projects 2.7% growth in real GDP during 2019, unchanged from the prior forecast in June. That follows an expected 2.9% rise this year, revised from the earlier forecast of 2.8% growth. [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer surged to 66.4 during November from an unrevised 58.4 in October. It was the highest level since December and followed three consecutive months of decline. The Action Economics [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 3,000 in the week ended November 17 to 224,000....... Continuing claims for unemployment insurance actually decreased slightly in the November 10 week to 1.668 million Data on weekly [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales during October declined 2.6% to the lowest level since July 2014. Sales were off 6.7% y/y and the fall reversed a little-revised September rise. The index [...]

Individuals seized the opportunity presented by improved earnings and easier pricing power to ramp up spending. Personal income rose 0.5% during October (4.3% y/y) following an unrevised 0.2% September gain. A 0.4% increase was [...]