Economy in Brief

The year-on-year inflation rate has been pushed up in recent months for all three main PPI components as well as for the headline. Yet, year-over-year inflation for most countries peaked in the early months of 2017. From one year and [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 178,000 during July (1.9% y/y) following a 191,000 June gain, revised from 158,000. May's increase was revised to 233,000 from 230,000. [...]

Total sales of light vehicles rose 0.4% during July (-5.9% y/y) to 16.77 million units (SAAR) from 16.70 million in June, according to the Autodata Corporation. Earlier data were revised. Passenger car sales increased 3.9% (-12.5% [...]

Total sales of light vehicles rose 0.5% during July (-6.0% y/y) to 16.73 million units (SAAR) from 16.64 million in June, according to the Autodata Corporation. Data for 2016 were revised slightly. Passenger car sales increased 3.9% [...]

Regular gasoline prices rose to $2.35 per gallon last week (8.9% y/y) from $2.31 in the prior week. They remained down, however, from the high of $2.45 per gallon in late-April. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the [...]

The PMI readings for manufacturing in July are solid or rising in the countries whose economic leadership matters most. In Asia, China's manufacturing gauge is up to 51.1 in July from 50.4 in June. While Japan's gauge is lower, it is [...]

The value of construction put-in-place held steady during May (+4.9% y/y) following a 0.7% April dip, revised from -1.4%. Earlier figures also were revised. Expectations were for a 0.3% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

The ISM factory sector composite index fell to 56.3 during July from June's unrevised reading of 57.8. The index has been close to this level all year, but remained well above the 2015 low of 47.9. A level of 56.4 had been expected in [...]