US The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% in December after climbing 0.2% the prior month. The energy index sprang 4.0% month-on-month thanks in large part to an 8.4% jump in the gasoline segment. The cost of food, meanwhile, progressed 0.4% on advances for both “food away from home” (+0.4%) and “food at home” (+0.4%). The [...]
US The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% in December after climbing 0.2% the prior month. This result was in line with consensus expectations.The energy index sprang 4.0% month-on-month thanks in large part to an 8.4% jump in the gasoline segment.The cost of food, meanwhile, progressed 0.4% on advances for both “food away from home” (+0.4%) [...]
US The December nonfarm payrolls fell 140K, a result much worse than the +50K print expected by consensus. The negative surprise was partially offset by a 135K upward revision to the prior month’s results. The private sector shed 95K jobs while employment in the public sector dropped 45K. Without wishing to minimize the losses suffered [...]
US The November retail sales report came in a lot weaker than expected. After an impressive run of positive gains from May to September, consumer outlays decreased for the second month in a row, adding to signs that the US economic rebound is losing its spring amid the surging number of COVID-19 cases. The real [...]
US The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in November after holding steady the month before. The result overshot consensus expectations for a 0.1% print. Energy prices overall were up 0.4% month-on-month as lower gasoline prices (-0.4%) were more than offset by higher prices for electricity (+0.5%), gas (+3.1%) and fuel oil (+3.6%). The cost of [...]
US The ISM Manufacturing Index fell 1.8 points to a still strong 57.5 in November. The ISM is a diffusion index and measures the breadth of strength or weakness in the factory sector rather than the magnitude. Any reading above 50 means more manufacturers see conditions at their business improving rather than weakening. The forward-looking [...]
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 [...]
