Economy in Brief: December 2011

Purchasing Managers released their final estimates for the November services and composite diffusion indexes for the Euro Area today. Final estimates for manufactures were released last week. Although the Composite index rose slightly [...]

Manufacturing orders fell 0.4% during October following a 0.1% September slip, revised from the 0.3% rise reported last month. The latest decline roughly matched Consensus expectations. For durable goods only, orders fell 0.5% and [...]

Activity in the service sector continued under pressure last month. The Composite Index for the service and construction sectors from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) slipped to 52.0 in November versus an unrevised 52.9 [...]

The labor market continued its moderate improvement during November. Nonfarm payrolls grew 120,000 and the prior two months were revised up. Consensus expectations had been for a 125,000 increase in jobs last month. Despite the gains, [...]

Construction spending during October rose 0.8%, about as expected, after an unrevised 0.2% September uptick. Private sector spending led last month's gain with a 2.3% jump. Residential building rose 3.4% led by a 6.7% jump (1.7% y/y) [...]

Manufacturing activity seems to be gaining a firmer footing. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its November Composite Index of factory sector activity rose to 52.7, its highest since June, from an unrevised 50.8 in [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance rose last week to 402,000 from 396,000 (revised from 393,000) during the week prior. Expectations had been for 390,000 in the Action Economics survey. The 4-week moving average of claims held [...]