Economy in Brief: 2016

The Labor Market Conditions Index from the Federal Reserve Board includes 19 indicators of labor market activity, covering the broad categories of unemployment and underemployment. These include jobs, workweeks, wages, vacancies, [...]

German orders fell in January for the second straight month. However, each month the declines were relatively small, and together, they fail to offset the 1.5% order gain in November so that the three-month change is still positive. [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit increased to $43.4 billion in December from November's $42.2 billion, which was revised from $42.4 billion. The December result was modestly larger than the Action Economics Forecast Survey estimate of [...]

The table contains data from the EMU and for select EMU member countries as well as comparisons with the U.S. Quarterly GDP weakened in only four countries compared to their respective Q3 rates of growth. Year-over-year growth rates [...]

The job market firmed during February. Payroll employment increased by 242,000 after slowing in January, while the unemployment held steady at 4.9%, its lowest level since February 2008. The overall unemployment rate including [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit increased to $45.7 billion in January, following December's $44.7 billion, which was revised from $43.4 billion. The January result was wider than the Action Economics Forecast Survey estimate of $43.2 [...]

The job market firmed during February. Payroll employment increased by 242,000 after slowing in January, while the unemployment held steady at 4.9%, its lowest level since February 2008. The overall unemployment rate including [...]

When I began to detect a slowdown in the U.S. and the global economy, I portrayed the final outcome as likely to be the result of a strong services sector vs. a weak manufacturing sector. So the final outcome would be the result of [...]