Economy in Brief: May 2013

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the March job openings rate held m/m at 2.8%. The latest remained the highest since June of last year and equaled the recovery high. The [...]

Petroleum prices in the past have shown a nasty habit of firming with the onset of the summer driving season. The price of regular gasoline inched up two cents last week to $3.54 per gallon (-6.6% y/y). Prices reached a peak of $3.78 [...]

It's obvious that when it comes to most things, a person's age, sex and race matter. Within the Bureau of Labor Statistics Household Sector Survey, the differences are eye popping. To start, the April unemployment rate for women aged [...]

The Activity Index for the service and construction sectors from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) declined further to 53.1 last month from 54.4 during March. This latest level was the lowest in nine months and disappointed [...]

The labor market rebounded somewhat last month following its March disappointment. Nonfarm payroll employment increased 165,000 (1.6% y/y) during April. That followed upwardly revised gains of 138,000 and 332,000 during the prior two [...]

Nonfarm business sector productivity during Q1'13 rose 0.7% (SAAR). That was a rebound from the 1.7% decline during Q4'12. That left the y/y gain of 0.9% on a par with the slow growth rates of 2011 and 2012. Real output rose at a 2.5% [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit during March declined to $38.8B from $43.6B in February, revised from $43.0B. A $42.5B deficit had been expected. A sharp 2.8% decline in imports (-5.6% y/y) was behind the improvement Exports also were [...]

The manufacturing PMI for the euro area contracted a bit more slowly than in its preliminary estimate. The PMI indicator fell to 46.69 from 46.75, a marginal creep lower in April. Although France continues to be under a lot of [...]