Economy in Brief: May 2011

April brought increased buying activity at chain stores. Reported Wednesday was a 0.8% (+2.8% y/y) slip in chain store sales last week, but that still left sales for the month as a whole up 2.7% m/m after a 3.0% gain during March. [...]

For most German sectors year-over-year growth in industrial output (or IP) has turned only slightly lower. Yet, over three months IP has accelerated overall led by consumer goods, a sector that has been late to the party. Capital [...]

Nonfarm payrolls increased 244,000 last month after a 221,000 March gain, initially reported as 216,000. The February rise also was revised up to 235,000 from 194,000. The latest gain exceeded Consensus expectations for a 185,000 [...]

April brought increased buying activity at chain stores. Reported Wednesday was a 0.8% (+2.8% y/y) slip in chain store sales last week, but that still left sales for the month as a whole up 2.7% m/m after a 3.0% gain during March. [...]

Nonfarm payrolls increased 244,000 last month after a 221,000 March gain, initially reported as 216,000. The February rise also was revised up to 235,000 from 194,000. The latest gain exceeded Consensus expectations for a 185,000 [...]

The Monster Index rose 6.6% m/m during April following similar, strong gains during the prior two months. The increase raised the latest level 9.0% versus last year and 18.9% from its recent trough. Industry improvement has been [...]

Has the slippage down that famous slippery slope begun for German orders? Orders plummeted by 4% in March. But they have risen by 3.1% in January and by 1.9% in February and so they remain higher for the quarter on balance. Still the [...]

The current economic slowdown is taking a toll on worker productivity. Labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector rose 1.6% last quarter, the slowest gain since Q2'10. Productivity is calculated by dividing an index of real [...]