Economy in Brief: November 2020

The Federal Reserve left the target for the Fed funds rate in a range of 0.00% to 0.25% at today's meeting of the FOMC. The Fed indicated that it is "committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this [...]

It has not been the best of times or the worst of times, but the German economy has been rapidly rebounding from an ugly hit to economic activity in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown and after seeing orders crater then surge, the [...]

• Growth in output per hour remained firm for second straight quarter. • Unit labor costs decline, reversing Q2 rise. Nonfarm business sector productivity increased 4.9% (SAAR) during Q3'20 following a 10.6% Q2 increase, revised from [...]

• State initial claims continued their downward trend. • Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance new filers rose for third week. • Continuing claims fell for state and PUA, while PEUC continues upward march. Seasonally adjusted state [...]

Among the eight jurisdictions listed in the table, five of them show that composite index readings eroded in October. The EMU reading fell to a dead neutral (or flat) reading of 50.0. The EMU composite has fallen off for three months [...]

• Service sector activity slipped m/m, but remains firm. • Component activity is mixed. • Strength in pricing power resumes. The Composite Index of Services Activity from the Institute for Supply Management fell to 56.6 during October [...]

• Refinancings surge 6.4% as purchase applications fall 1.3%. • New record low rate for 15-year mortgages, 2.63%, and for Jumbo loans, 3.27%. • Fixed rate loan applications up 67% from a year ago. The Mortgage Bankers Association [...]

• Slowdown is broad-based across company size. • Employment increase is well below expectations. The ADP National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls increased 365,000 (-7.3% y/y) during October following [...]