Purchasing Managers Index — Nonmanufacturing
July 6, 2020 The Institute for Supply Management not only publishes an index of manufacturing activity each month, they publish two days later a survey of non-manufacturing firms -- which largely consists of services. The business activity index rose 25 points in...
The Economy is on a Roll – For Now
July 3, 2020 Once the March and April data began to unfold it was clear that the economy had fallen into a deep recession. Who would have thought that by May the economy would be rebounding vigorously and that the recession would be over? But yet that is exactly...
Car and Truck Sales
July 2, 2020 Unit car and truck sales rose 5.7% in June to 13.046 million after have surged by 41.8% in May. But those gains only partially offset the stunning declines of 32.0% in March and 23.6% in April. Car sales in February -- before the pandemic shutdown...
GDP, Inflation, and Interest Rate Forecasts
July 2, 2020 The government's response to the corona virus stopped the economy dead in its tracks. It started to fall precipitously in March and then collapsed in April. However, it began to turn upwards in May and the rebound gathered momentum in June. ...
Private Employment
July 2, 2020 Private sector employment rose 4,767 in June after having climbed by 3,232 thousand in May after having plunged by 19,835 jobs in April and 1,335 thousand in March. Given the sharp drop in employment beginning in March and continuing into April, the...
Payroll Employment
July 2, 2020 Payroll employment rose 4,800 in June after having climbed by 2,699 thousand in May after having plunged by 20,787 jobs in April and 1,352 thousand in March. Given the sharp drop in employment beginning in March and continuing into April, the National...
Unemployment Rate
July 2, 2020 The unemployment rate fell 2.2% in June to 11.1% after having fallen 1.4% in May to 13.3% after having jumped 10.3 percentage points in April from 4.4% to 14.7%. The labor force rose by 1,705 thousand in June. Employment rose by 4.940 thousand...
Nonfarm Workweek
July 2, 2020 In any given month employers can boost output by either additional hiring or by lengthening the number of hours that their employees work. Payroll employment jumped 4,800 thousand workers in May after having risen 2,699 thousand in May and having...
Average Hourly Earnings
July 2, 2020 Average hourly earnings fell 1.2% in June to $29.37 after having declined 1.0% in May, The declines the past two months may seem a bit odd, but they came about because many of the jobs lost in that time period were low paid workers. Cut more low...
Trade Deficit
July 2, 2020 The trade deficit for April widened by $4.8 billion in May to $54.6 billion after having widened by $7.4 billion fin April and by $7.7 billion in March. Exports fell 4.4% in May after having declined 20.5% in April while imports declined by 0.9% in...
Follow Me