Economy in Brief: April 2015

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during March declined to 36,595 (+6.4% y/y) following a fall to 50,579 in February. Layoffs fell m/m in the aerospace/defense, computer, energy, [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims in the week ended March 28 declined to 268,000 (-18.5% y/y) from 288,000 during the prior week, revised from 282,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 285,500, the lowest [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit in goods and services declined to $35.4 billion during February from $42.7 billion in January, revised from $41.8 billion. A deficit of $41.8 billion was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

Consumers renewed their car-buying interest last month. Sales of light vehicles increased 5.6% (4.0% y/y) during March to 17.15 million units (AR) versus 16.23 million in February. The latest level was the highest since November. [...]

Japan's Q1 2015 Tankan report shows little progress for the overall economy. The al industry reading nudges up to 16 in Q1 2015 from 14 in Q4 2014. The all industry outlook also edges up to 14 from 12 in Q4 2014. The closely-watched [...]

The value of construction put-in-place slipped 0.1% during February following a 1.7% drop in January, revised from -1.1%. No change had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Private construction activity gained 0.2% [...]

Factory sector activity remains without forward momentum. The March Composite Index from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) declined to 51.5 following its February drop to an unrevised 52.9. It was the lowest level since May [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index gained 4.6% last week (28.1% y/y) and remained at the highest level since early-February. Purchase applications led the way up with a 5.7% w/w [...]