Economy in Brief

Business activity in the service sector moderated last month. The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) slipped to 58.8 during March from an unrevised 59.5 in February. It [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 241,000 (1.9% y/y) during March following a 246,000 February gain, revised from 235,000. A 210,000 rise had been expected in the Action [...]

Total sales of light vehicles increased 2.4% during March (3.9% y/y) to 17.48 million units (SAAR), following two months of decline, according to the Autodata Corporation. Despite the rebound, last month's sales remained below an [...]

There is a definite softer spot being hit by the global PMIs in March. The unweighted PMI average is at 52.5 in March, down from 53.2 in February and 53.5 in January. In addition, 12 of 17 country indexes (excluding the EMU aggregate) [...]

Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.70 per gallon last week (14.4% y/y) and landed at the highest level since August 2015. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The [...]

The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.1% (3.7% y/y) during February following unrevised stability in January. A 0.4% rise in building activity had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Private sector [...]

There is a broad-based tailing off of manufacturing PMIs in Asia in March. For the most part, the drops are not severe. But even where the queue percentile standings are relatively high, it is only because recent manufacturing [...]

Strength in U.S. manufacturing activity eased slightly last month. The March ISM manufacturing sector composite index fell to 59.3 and reversed its February rise. It nevertheless remained near the highest level since May 2004. A level [...]