Economy in Brief: 2018

Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.70 per gallon last week (14.4% y/y) and landed at the highest level since August 2015. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The [...]

The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.1% (3.7% y/y) during February following unrevised stability in January. A 0.4% rise in building activity had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Private sector [...]

There is a broad-based tailing off of manufacturing PMIs in Asia in March. For the most part, the drops are not severe. But even where the queue percentile standings are relatively high, it is only because recent manufacturing [...]

Strength in U.S. manufacturing activity eased slightly last month. The March ISM manufacturing sector composite index fell to 59.3 and reversed its February rise. It nevertheless remained near the highest level since May 2004. A level [...]

Retail sales in Japan are off by 0.2% month-to-month in February, falling on that basis for the second month in a row on seasonally adjusted data. Still, retail sales are up by 1.7% from one year ago. With only two exceptions since [...]

Initial applications for jobless insurance rose to 229,000 during the week ended March 17 from an unrevised 226,000 in the prior week. Claims remain near the lowest level since December 1969. Expectations had been for 225,000 claims [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer for March fell to 57.4 following a decline to 61.9 in February. It was the lowest index level in twelve months and compared to December's peak of 67.8. Stability at 62.0 had been [...]

Initial applications for jobless insurance fell to 215,000 during the week ended March 24 from 227,000 in the prior week. That March 17 number is revised from 229,000, and all seasonally adjusted data back through 2013 underwent [...]