Economy in Brief: January 2019

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate eased to 4.4% during November, retracing its October gain to 4.5%. The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job [...]

German IP moves lower and faster than its diffusion reading German output is falling over 12 months; however, on a diffusion basis, the German reading in November is 51.8, pointing to ongoing expansion. This creates some dissonance [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that its Small Business Optimism Index slipped to 104.4 during December, down for the fourth straight month. During all of 2018, optimism rose 1.7%, on average, after a [...]

Gasoline prices fell to $2.24 per gallon this past week (-11.3% y/y) from $2.27 during the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for the marked seasonal variation in prices. The seasonally-adjusted gasoline price [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) declined to 57.6 during December from 60.7 in November. It was the lowest level since July, down from a high of 61.6 in September. [...]

Germany's real orders and real sales by sector are either falling or decelerating or both on a broad front in November. Of nine growth rates for total orders, foreign orders, and domestic orders over three months, six months and 12 [...]

The labor market finished 2018 on a firm footing. Nonfarm payrolls increased 312,000 (1.8% y/y) during December after a 176,000 November rise, revised from 155,000. October's gain also was revised up to 274,000 from 237,000. The [...]

The U.K. PMIs from Markit/CIPS continued to point to a relatively subdued path for growth ahead. The composite PMI is at a moderate reading of 51.4 in December, up from 50.8 in November. However, evaluated since January 2014, the 51.4 [...]