Economy in Brief: April 2017

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell sharply to 55.2 in March from an unrevised 57.6 during February. It was the lowest level since October. The Action Economics [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payroll employment rose 263,000 (1.9% y/y) during March, the strongest increase since December 2014. The rise followed a 245,000 February gain, revised from [...]

Regular gasoline prices improved to $2.36 per gallon last week (13.3% y/y), up versus three weeks of stability at $3.32 per gallon. Prices remained lower than the 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. Haver Analytics constructs factors [...]

Manufacturing sector orders increased 1.0% (7.3% y/y) during February following a 1.5% January increase, revised from 1.2%. Durable goods orders increased 1.8% (5.3% y/y), revised from the advance report of a 1.7% increase. [...]

Euro area retail sales advanced by 0.7% in February as overall sales rose by 1.8% year-on-year. Nonfood sales rose by 1.1% year-on-year; they rose by 0.7% month-to-month showing steady acceleration with three-month sales at a pace of [...]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined during February to its smallest level since October. The deficit of $43.6 bil. contrasted to $48.2 bil. in January, initially reported as $48.5 bil. Expectations had been for a [...]

Total sales of light vehicles declined 5.4% m/m during March (-0.3% y/y) to 16.62 million units (SAAR), according to the Autodata Corporation. It was the lowest level of sales since February 2015. Light truck sales fell 6.8% (+6.3% [...]

Japan's current Tankan assessment shows pick-up The bellwether in Japan's Tankan report is the large company response particularly for manufacturing concerns. In Q1 2017 and in the outlook for Q2, manufacturers form a strong part of [...]