USA • The Consumer Price Index rose a consensus-matching 0.8% MoM in February after climbing 0.6% the prior month. The energy component advanced 3.5%, with strong gains for fuel oil (+7.7%), gasoline (+6.6%), and utility gas services (+1.5%). The cost of food, meanwhile, sprang 1.0%. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, met consensus [...]
USA • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics surprised the market with 678k jobs created in February, well above 400k anticipated by forecasters. This was on top of an upward revision of 92k to December and January. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8 % – the lowest reading since the pandemic, just 0.3 %age points [...]
USA • Markit’s flash composite PMI came in at 56.0 in February, up sharply from 51.1 the month before. Polled managers reported a “notable recovery in demand from COVID-related disruptions at the start of the year” and linked growth to “substantial gains in new business, employees returning from sick leave, increased travelling and greater availability [...]
USA • Retail sales expanded 3.8% in January, quite a bit more than the +2.0% print expected by consensus. The good news was partially offset by a downward revision to the prior month’s result from -1.9% to -2.5%. Sales of motor vehicles and parts jumped 5.7% MoM but remained 6.3% below last April’s all-time high. [...]
USA • The Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% MoM in January after climbing 0.5% the prior month. The January result was two ticks stronger than expected by consensus. The energy component rose 0.9% despite the gasoline segment retracing 0.8% in the month. The cost of food sprang 0.9%. The core CPI, which excludes food and [...]
USA • Nonfarm payrolls rose 467K in January, more than the +125K print expected by consensus. Adding to the good news, the prior months’ results were upgraded a massive 709K. Employment in the goods segment crept up 4K with gains in manufacturing (+13K) being partially offset by declines for both construction (-5K) and mining/logging (-4K). [...]
USA • The Bureau of Economic Analysis put out its first estimate of Q4 GDP growth. The economy reportedly expanded an annualized 6.9% in the quarter, which was more than the +5.5% print expected by consensus. Following on the heels of a 2.3% expansion in Q3, this gain hoisted economic output 3.1% above its pre-crisis [...]
USA • Housing starts jumped from 1,678K in November to a nine-month high of 1,702K in December, overshooting the 1,650K print expected by analysts. The monthly gain was entirely due to a 10.6% gain in the multi-family segment (to 530K). Starts in the single-family category inched down 2.3% to 1,172K. On a quarterly basis, total [...]
USA • The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5% MoM in December after climbing 0.8% the prior month. The result was stronger than the +0.4% print expected by consensus. The energy component registered its first decline in seven months, retracing 0.4% thanks in part to a 0.5% drop in the gasoline segment. The cost of food, [...]
USA • Nonfarm payrolls rose just 199K in December, a lot less than the +450K figure expected by consensus. Partially compensating for this disappointing result, the prior months’ results were upgraded a massive 141K. The private sector added 211K jobs. Employment in the goods segment sprang 54K thanks to gain in manufacturing (+ 26K), construction [...]
