Economy in Brief: February 2012

EMU retail sales fell by 0.4% in volume terms in December marking their second straight drop. While there has been some welling up in confidence over Europe, Europe remains in a very difficult spot. Its troubled economies are really [...]

Service sector activity rose again last month. The Composite Index for the service and construction sectors from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) jumped to 56.8 in January versus 53.0 during December. Figures for 2011 were [...]

Job market improvement picked up steam last month. From the household employment survey, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, continuing a decline which started after its late-2009 peak of 10.0%. Nonfarm payrolls grew 243,000 during [...]

Construction put-in-place gained 0.9% in December after a minuscule 0.1% rise in November, when activity was restrained following Hurricane Sandy. The November amount was revised upward from a 0.3% fall reported before, and October [...]

Construction put-in-place gained 0.9% in December after a minuscule 0.1% rise in November, when activity was restrained following Hurricane Sandy. The November amount was revised upward from a 0.3% fall reported before, and October [...]

Producer prices are moderate in December rising by 0.1% for the total index excluding construction. The headline pace has steadily lost some momentum from 4.3% Yr/Yr to 3% annualized over three months. By sector capital goods and [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during January rebounded to the highest level since September. The rise centered in the retail, pharmaceutical, food, entertainment/leisure, [...]

Growth in labor productivity eased last quarter to an expected 0.7% after a revised 1.9% Q3 increase, last month reported as 3.1%. Slower growth in productivity was the story for all of last year with a 0.8% gain after a 4.1% rise in [...]