Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 278,000 during the week ended January 31 from 267,000 in the prior week, revised from 265,000. Claims were at the lowest level since the end of October. The four-week moving [...]

The long steady drop of the euro exchange rate is boosting German export orders. German orders rose by 4.2% in December led by foreign orders that rose 4.8% after a moderate 0.9% November drop. Domestic German orders rose by 3.4% in [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index notched 1.3% higher last week (36.0% y/y) following a slip during the prior week. Refinance applications rose 2.5% (57.7% y/y) and reversed half [...]

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) composite index of nonmanufacturing sector activity inched up to 56.7 during January from a revised 56.5 in December. Earlier data was revised due to new seasonal factors. The latest numbers [...]

The EMU total PMI showed an advance for January but still in the context of sequential declines from its 12-month to 6-month to 3-month averages. Sequential decline also applies to the two EMU components for services and manufacturing [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls increased 213,000 last month (2.3% y/y) following a 253,000 December rise, revised from 241,000, and a 274,000 increase in November, earlier [...]

Sales of light vehicles declined 1.5% during January to 16.66 million (AR) from 16.92 million in December. Despite a solid 8.9% y/y increase, sales have trended sideways since last summer. Light truck sales have shown strength with [...]

During all of last year, new orders to manufacturers rose a steady 2.8%. During December, however, forward momentum lost steam. New orders fell 3.4% (-3.6% y/y) following a revised 1.7% November decline, last month reported as -0.7%. [...]