Economy in Brief: January 2015

The labor market turned in another respectable performance last year, according to the ADP/Moody's National Employment Report. Private sector payroll employment grew 2.1% in 2014 and annual increases have ranged between 1.8% and 2.3% [...]

Even a relatively quick perusal of the EMU trends reveals that deceleration is well ensconced across the euro area. Reading the table from right to left, the 12-month to 6-month to 3-month averages by country and by sector are [...]

New orders to all manufacturers fell 0.7% (-1.0% y/y) during November following an unrevised 0.7% easing in October. The decline was the fourth consecutive drop and roughly matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

Nonmanufacturing activity posted solid performance in 2014, as measured by the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) composite nonmanufacturing index. It rose to 56.3 last year from 54.7 in 2013 and was at its highest point since [...]

Energy prices remained under pressure last week as they have since last Spring. Average gasoline prices declined another 9 cents in the week ended January 5 to $2.21 a gallon. Prices have fallen by one-third during the last year and [...]

Sales of light vehicles during 2014 improved 5.8% y/y to 16.49 million units, the highest level since 2006. Moderate pricing has been a factor in lifting sales. Since 2006, the CPI for new vehicles rose at a 0.9% annual rate. During [...]

The Institute for Supply Management reported that, for New York State, their December index of business conditions expected in six months increased to 72.9, the highest level since February. Improved expectations were forming [...]

The Institute for Supply Management reported that, for New York State, their December index of business conditions expected in six months increased to 72.9, the highest level since February. Improved expectations were forming [...]