Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for June, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,212.4 billion, up 1.7 percent (±0.2%) from May 2008 and up 9.2 percent (±0.4%) from June ...

The U.S. Import Price Index increased 1.7 percent in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today, after a 2.9 percent rise in June. Both petroleum and nonpetroleum prices contributed to the advance, increasing 4.0 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Export prices rose 1.4 percent in July following a ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for July, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $384.6 billion, a decrease of 0.1 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month and 2.6 percent (±0.7%) above July 2007. Total sales ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 8, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 425.9, a decrease of 1.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 432.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased ...

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total June exports of $164.4 billion and imports of $221.2 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $56.8 billion, down from $59.2 billion in May, revised. June exports were $6.4 billion more than May exports ...

Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that June 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices,after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $411.2 billion, up 2.8 percent (+/-0.5%) from the revised May level and were up 17.0 percent (+/-1.0%) ...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor today reported preliminary productivity data--as measured by output per hour of all persons--for the second quarter of 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rates of productivity change in the second quarter were:
2.3 percent in the business sector and 2.2 percent in the ...

For the week ending July 26, 2008, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer declined by another -0.5 percent as the production side of the barometer represented a heavy drag on the economy for a third straight week. Through the first half of 2008, vehicle and lumber production have accounted for nearly all the weakness in the barometer, showing ...

Some improvement is projected for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with broader gains seen by the fourth quarter as buyers take advantage of new provisions provided through the recently passed housing stimulus bill, according to the latest forecast by the National Association ...

In the week ending Aug. 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 455,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 448,000. The 4-week moving average was 419,500, an increase of 26,750 from the previous week's revised average ...

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 1, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 432.6, an increase of 2.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 420.8 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased ...

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 2 percent.

Economic activity expanded in the second quarter, partly reflecting growth in consumer spending and exports. However, labor markets have softened further and financial markets remain under considerable stress. Tight credit conditions, the ongoing housing contraction, and ...

"The NMI (Non-Manufacturing Index) increased 1.3 percentage points in July to 49.5 percent, indicating contraction for the second consecutive month in the non-manufacturing sector. The Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index decreased 0.3 percentage point to 49.6 percent. The New Orders Index decreased 0.7 percentage point to 47.9 percent, ...