Economy in Brief: September 2014

Nonfarm payrolls gained 142,000 (1.8% y/y) during August following increases of 212,000 and 267,000 during the prior two months. The rise was the weakest since December and disappointed expectations for a 220,000 increase in the [...]

Private sector employment growth eased a bit more last month, but at 204,000 in the ADP/Moody's National Employment Report, it held to the moderate growth range of the last six months. The y/y increase was 2.2%, extending a steady [...]

The pace of nonmanufacturing activity continued to accelerate in August with the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) composite nonmanufacturing index rising to 59.6 from 58.7 in July. This is a diffusion index with a reading above [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance during the week ended August 30 rose to 302,000 from 298,000 in the prior week, which was unrevised. The Action Economics Forecast Survey participants expected 300,000 in the latest week. The four- [...]

According to the Autodata Corporation, sales of light vehicles soared in August, jumping up to a much larger-than-expected 17.53 million units (SAAR) from 16.48 million in July. Increased automaker incentives interacted with a [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline inched up in the week ended Monday to an average of $3.459 from $3.454 the week before; the latest was off 4.1% y/y. These prices are usually firmer during the week of Labor Day, and this [...]

Euro area retail sales backed off in July as overall and ex-food sales fell. Both sales flows accelerated over 6-months compared to 12-months but then decelerated over 3-months compared to both six-months and 12-months. Motor vehicle [...]

The EMU PPI fell in July and its 1.1% year-over-year drop is the largest since April. Capital goods prices are eking out gains over all horizons (in the table), but the increases are marginal. Consumer goods prices over all horizons [...]