Economy in Brief: 2016

The value of construction put-in-place increased 1.5% during January (9.5% y/y) after a 0.6% December gain, revised from 0.1%. It was the strongest rise since May, and exceeded the 0.5% increase expected in the Action Economics [...]

We are visited today by more dissonance in data as global and EMU PMIs fell, showing broad-based declines as unemployment fell across the EMU, in Japan, and has been staying low in the U.S. I guess we should cut the Fed some slack on [...]

The ISM Composite Index of factory sector activity rose to 49.5, the highest level since September. It indicated a decline in factory sector activity for the fifth straight month, but exceeded expectations for 48.5 in the Action [...]

Petroleum prices stabilized last week following steady declines since the June highs. Regular gasoline averaged $1.78 per gallon last week (-27.9% y/y), up from $1.73 and the highest level since early in the month, according to the [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicated that industrial activity in the state deteriorated sharply this month. The measure of general business activity of -31.8 was up slightly from January, but still near the lowest level since [...]

The overall price level in the EMU fell again in February after dropping in January. Year-over-year inflation once again is falling for the first time in five months. Core inflation is positive but with its lowest year-on-year gain [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers indicated that its General Business Barometer retreated to 47.6 during February following a surge to 55.6 in January. The reading remained at the low end of the range during the last year. The ISM- [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes declined 2.5% in January (+1.4% y/y) following December's revised 0.9% improvement, which was initially reported as 0.1%. The January sales [...]