US The Markit flash composite PMI came in at 57.9 in November (56.3 in October), signaling the broadest improvement in private-sector activity since March 2015. The degree of optimism towards future output sprang to its highest point since May 2014, with survey respondents citing improved hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine and an end to election [...]
US Retail sales improved by 0.3% in October, extending their winning streak to six months. The outturn, however, was below market expectations and a marked deceleration in the pace of gains from the 1.5% averaged in the three months prior. Within this slowing trend, there’s a noticeable shift toward online shopping. Sales at non-store retailers, [...]
US Small business confidence was unchanged in October, although business owners are clearly concerned about the future path of economic policy. The uncertainty index jumped to 98.0 in October, near a record high. The election uncertainty will fade, but the recent spike in COVID cases and what that is likely to mean for customer engagement [...]
US October NFP (nonfarm payrolls) showed another month of solid gains. The improvement in the unemployment rate was even more impressive, falling a full percentage point to 6.9% from 7.9%. Just as encouraging, the report showed a rebound in the labor force participation rate and decline in the permanent job losses. These have been rising [...]
US The American economy rebounded sharply in Q3 following one of the steepest contractions on record in Q2. Economic growth accelerated at a 33.1% annualized pace, recovering about two-thirds of the activity lost in the first half of the year. Overall, real GDP is still 3.5% below where it was at the end of 2019. [...]
