Economy in Brief: March 2020

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate declined to 4.0% during December........ The Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) dates to December 2000 and the figures are available in Haver's USECON [...]

• • • • Capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector down to 75.1%, well below December 2018 cycle peak of 77.3%. Industrial production decreased 0.3% in January (-0.8% year-on-year) Industrial production and capacity data and US [...]

Welcome to the wild wacky world of economic analysis during a global contagion with national policies slamming the brakes on at different speeds to head off the spread of the virus in different regions around the globe. As you can see [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total job openings as a percent of total employment plus openings rose to 4.4% in January after having declined in both December and November, but remained below the 4.8% record of January [...]

Total business inventories slipped an expected 0.1% (+1.1% y/y) during January following an unrevised 0.1% December gain. The anticipated figure is from the Informa Global Markets survey. Business sales increased 0.6% (+2.1% y/y) [...]

Total retail sales including food service establishments declined 0.5% (+4.3% y/y) during February after rising 0.6% in January, revised from 0.3%. A 0.2% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Retail sales [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo fell 2.7% m/m to 72 in March from 74 in February for the third consecutive monthly decline. Still, the index is up 16.1% from a year ago and [...]

• Industrial production increased 0.6% in February driven by a 7.1% jump in utility output. • Factory production edged up 0.1% as gains in motor vehicle production offset continued declines in aerospace. • Capacity utilization in the [...]