Economy in Brief

French trade trends show a bigger current account deficit in January and a larger deficit on trade. Exports fell in January as imports rose. Over three months trade trends have reversed as imports are outpacing exports unlike the [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $56.6 billion in January from $53.9 billion in December, revised from $53.1 billion. A $54.1 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Exports [...]

Output per hour in the nonfarm business sector remained stable (revised from -0.1%) during Q4'17 following a 2.6% Q3 rise. A 0.1% slip had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Output rose at a 3.2% rate (3.2% y/y) [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 235,000 during February following a 244,000 January gain, revised from 234,000. A 200,000 rise had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

Oil prices continue to try to work some inflation mischief in the background, but OECD area inflation in January ticked lower to log a 2.2% gain over 12 months, a tick below its December pace of 2.3%. The core inflation rate also [...]

Manufacturers' orders declined 1.4% (+6.6% y/y) during January following a 1.8% December rise, revised from 1.7% reported initially. Total factory orders excluding transportation improved 0.4% (6.5% y/y), the weakest rise since June. [...]

Retail gasoline prices of $2.56 per gallon last week (9.4% y/y) were little-changed versus the prior two weeks, up from the early-2016 lows near $1.76 per gallon. Prices have moved roughly sideways since September. Haver Analytics [...]

There are two sets of trends in February composite PMI readings. The first and most impressive story is how strong the readings are. The median reading in February is 55.2 with a median standing in the 91.8 the percentile of its five- [...]