Economy in Brief: 2015

Consumer credit outstanding gained $11.6 billion during January after a $17.9 billion rise in December, initially reported as $14.8 billion. Expectations were for a $15.0 billion increase, according to the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Improvement in the labor market continues firm. Nonfarm payroll employment during February increased 295,000 (2.3% y/y) following a 239,000 January rise, revised from 257,000. The latest advance compared to expectations for 240,000 in [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit in goods and services decreased to $41.8 billion in January from December's $45.6, revised from $46.6 billion. This January net result was almost exactly equal to the $42.0 billion expected in the Action [...]

German industrial production shows signs of stabilizing and reasserting growth in the January report. The chart of year-over-year growth rates shows that by sector the year-over-year trends have stopped falling and that capital goods [...]

Improvement in the labor market continues firm. Nonfarm payroll employment during February increased 295,000 (2.3% y/y) following a 239,000 January rise, revised from 257,000. The latest advance compared to expectations for 240,000 in [...]

New orders in the manufacturing sector slipped 0.2% (-2.3% y/y) following a little-revised 3.5% December decline. The fall was the sixth in as many months and roughly matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey for a [...]

Nonfarm productivity slipped at a 2.2% annual rate last quarter, revised from -1.8%. The decline followed a 3.9% 3Q rise. For all of last year, worker productivity rose 0.7% on average. Real output increased at a downwardly revised [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during February slipped to 50,579 (+20.9% y/y) following a jump to 53,041 in January. Layoffs fell m/m in the automotive, chemical, commodities, [...]