Category: U.S.

Philadelphia Fed: Less Worse

Posted August 16, 2012 by rvillareal

The headline August Philadelphia Fed index meets expectations, improving to -7.1, from -12.9 in July (Consensus: -5.0; Decision Economics: -8.6).  Details of the report paint a picture of steady-state decline–but, unlike the Empire State Survey read more

Initial Claims: How Much Improvement?

Posted August 16, 2012 by rvillareal

Weekly initial claims rose an in line 2,000 (Consensus: +3,000; Decision Economics: -1,000) from a prior-week level revised up by 3,000.  The new number covered the fourth of five weeks in payroll August, and, at read more

Housing Starts: Single Family Weakness

Posted August 16, 2012 by rvillareal

Overall July housing starts are at the soft end of expectations, falling 1.1% (Consensus: -0.4%; Decision Economics: -1.3%) from a prior-month level revised down by 0.8%.

CPI: Services Firmness

Posted August 15, 2012 by rvillareal

The July Consumer Price Index is tamer than expected, with the overall figure flat (Consensus: +0.2%; Decision Economics: +0.1%) and the core figure up only 0.1% (Consensus and Decision Economics: +0.2%).

Empire State: Idling?

Posted August 15, 2012 by rvillareal

The headline August Empire State Manufacturing Index is unexpectedly weak, dropping to -5.9 from the +7.4 July level (Consensus: 7.0; Decision Economics: 7.8).

Retail Sales/PPI: Hawks’ Nightmare?

Posted August 14, 2012 by rvillareal

July retail sales jump across the board, with the critical ex-autos, building materials, and gasoline total jumping 0.9%, in a result that shifts the landscape for third-quarter spending growth–moderately in quantitative terms, but hugely in read more

Productivity: Doves See Support

Posted August 8, 2012 by Editor

Second-quarter productivity was on the firm side, rising an annualized 1.6% from the first quarter (Consensus: +1.4%; Decision Economics: +1.2%), but hourly compensation was also relatively strong, at +3.3% (Consensus: +1.8%; Decision Economics: +2.5%), so read more

Weekly Sales: Mixed, but early

Posted August 7, 2012 by Editor

Employment: Not enough

Posted August 3, 2012 by Editor

July payroll employment rises a more-than-expected 163,000 (Consensus: +100,000; Decision Economics: +92,000), while the average workweek was steady, as expected, and average hourly earnings rose a less than-expected 0.1% (Consensus: +0.2%; Decision Economics: +0.3%).