Service-sector purchasing manager surveys
Friday Data Put Coronavirus Recession in a League of its Own
April 3, 2020
The U.S. monthly labor force survey for March could have been worse because of the release’s disclaimer that “the survey reference periods predated many coronavirus-related business and school closures that occurred in the second half of the month.” That being said, non-farm payroll employment plunged 701K, most since April 2009. A drop of 701,000 jobs […] More
Technical Recessions in Germany and U.K. and More Impeachment Drama in the U.S.
October 3, 2019
Composite purchasing manager surveys that embody non-manufacturing as well as manufacturing activity released for several countries in Europe by and large underperformed expectations. Most alarming were the reports for Germany and the U.K., each of which recorded slight contractions of real GDP in the second quarter. The German service sector PMI dropped 3.4 points in […] More
The U.S. Enjoyed a Bigger Growth Advantage in June than May
July 6, 2017
It was already reported earlier this week by the Institute of Supply Management that the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index leaped 2.9 points to a 32-month high of 57.8 in June. This eclipsed a 0.4-point rise in Euroland’s comparable PMI to 57.4. Now comes word that the non-manufacturing U.S. PMI increased 0.5 points to a […] More
Back to Business
July 5, 2017
U.S. markets reopened after the long Independence Day holiday break. Investors were greeted by the release of many more June purchasing manager survey results and have a number of events to get through. FOMC minutes will be released today. President Trump is embarking on his second trip abroad as president. He will be attending the […] More
Less U.S.-Advantageous PMI Spreads in August
September 3, 2015
In July when Grexit fever was at a high burn, the sum of the U.S.-minus-Eurozone purchasing manager survey differential had jumped to 6.6 points from 2.6 points the month before, but 80% of that increase was reversed in August. It was reported on Monday that the U.S. manufacturing PMI declined 1.6 points last month while […] More
Heavy Flow of Information Continues
September 3, 2015
The Bank of Brazil ended a 7-meeting streak of rate tightening, as risks of deepening recession outweigh danger of vicious cycle of currency depreciation and rising inflation. The Selic Rate was left at 14.25%, its level after 325 basis points of tightening between October 2014 and July 2015. The Swedish Riksbank likewise left monetary policy […] More
