Economy in Brief

The National Association for Business Economics expects 2.4% real U.S. economic growth in 2018, revised slightly from the earlier expectation of 2.5% growth. These follow expected growth of 2.2% this year, revised from 2.3%. Quarterly [...]

All the composite PMI gauges in the table show growth in May. This is the second month in a row for which this is true. In March Hong Kong showed contraction; in February, Brazil and Hong Kong showed contraction. Still, out of the 14 [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell to 56.9 during May, and reversed all of its April increase. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a reading of 56.0. [...]

Nonfarm output per hour remained unchanged during Q1'17 (1.2% y/y) revised from the preliminary report of a 0.6% decline. A 0.1% dip had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Output grew an upwardly revised 1.7% (2.5% [...]

The May employment report sent mixed signals about labor market conditions. Nonfarm payrolls rose 138,000 (1.5% y/y) last month. A 182,000 increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The rise followed a 174,000 [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $47.6 billion in April, compared to $45.3 billion in March, initially reported as $43.7 billion, and $38.4 billion in April 2016. Expectations had been for a $45.8 billion [...]

The overall PPI (PPI excluding construction) rose by 0.1% in April after falling by 0.4% in March. The year-on-year pace is up to 4.3%, but the three-month change shows a 0.6% decline at an annualized rate. This unwinds the [...]

The May employment report sent mixed signals about labor market conditions. Nonfarm payrolls rose 138,000 (1.5% y/y) last month. A 182,000 increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The rise followed a 174,000 [...]