The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) decreased 0.3% in August, to a seasonally adjusted level of 80.1 (2002 = 100). Revised data show the index rose 3.1% in July, to 80.4. The Federal Reserve Board’s industrial production index for manufacturing (IPMFG) was up 0.6% in August. Regional output in August declined 20.8% from a ...

New York City business activity surged in September to the highest level since November 2006, according to the survey taken by the Institute for Supply Management-New York (ISM-NY, formerly NAPM-NY). The Current Business Conditions index rose to 72.9 in September from a revised 55.7 in August. These were the first back-toback months above ...

The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the CHICAGO BUSINESS BAROMETER stumbled enroute to establishing the possible end of the 2007-2009 recession.

BUSINESS ACTIVITY:
PRICES PAID continued to firm;
NEW ORDERS, PRODUCTION, and ORDER BACKLOGS suffered reverses;
EMPLOYMENT index continued to retreat at the August rate;
BUYING POLICY:
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT lead-times lengthened for the second month. ...

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009, (that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the ...

Nonfarm private employment decreased 254,000 from August to September 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report. September’s employment decline was the smallest since July of 2008 and employment losses have diminished significantly over the last two quarters. Nevertheless, employment, which usually ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 25, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.1 percent ...

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had improved in August, dipped in September. The Index now stands at 53.1 (1985=100), down from 54.5 in August. The Present Situation Index decreased to 22.7 from 25.4. The Expectations Index declined to 73.3 from 73.8 ...

Data through July 2009, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that, although still negative, the annual rate of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved compared to last month’s reading. This marks approximately six months of improved ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.1% in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis.

"Over the last week customer traffic picked up and as a result so did sales," said ICSC chief economist Michael P. Niemira. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales rise 0.9% in the latest week. The trade group still expects industry sales, excluding Wal-Mart Stores ...

Texas factory activity showed the first signs of bottoming out in September, according to the business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key indicator of current manufacturing activity, came in close to zero as the number of companies seeing increases and decreases was ...

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was –0.90 in August, down from –0.56 in July. Three of the four broad categories of indicators made negative contributions to the CFNAI in August; the production and income category made a positive contribution to the index for the second ...

Sales of new one-family houses in August 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 429,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.7 percent (±16.2%)* above the revised July rate of 426,000, but is 3.4 percent (±13.3%) below the August ...

Improving economic conditions have increasingly convinced consumers that the recovery has begun, although few consumers anticipated any quick fixes to the dismal state of their own finances. Consumers were more optimistic about prospects for the national economy, inflation, and the unemployment rate, although most consumers thought their ...

New orders for manufactured durable goods in August decreased $4.0 billion or 2.4 percent to $164.4 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the second decrease in the last three months. This followed a 4.8 percent July increase. Excluding transportation, new orders were down slightly. Excluding defense, new orders decreased ...

Tenth District manufacturing activity rebounded in September as firms’ orders picked up slightly, and expectations mostly held steady with last month’s positive outlook. Most price indexes in the survey inched higher, but still remained at fairly low levels.

The net percentage of firms reporting month-over-month increases in production in September was 16, up from -7 in August and 2 in July (Tables 1 & 2, Chart). Production was up at both durable and non-durable goods producing plants, with the notable exception of aircraft ...

Existing-home sales in August gave back some of their strong gain in July but remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.10 million units in August from a pace of 5.24 million in July, but remain 3.4 percent above the 4.93 million-unit level in ...

For the week ending September 12, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer was flat. Since July, however, the barometer has made a sharp upturn thereby signaling the start of recovery, though the absolute level of the barometer suggests economic activity in general remains quite depressed. Following a pop in economic growth in the third ...

In the week ending Sept. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 530,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 551,000. The 4-week moving average was 553,500, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised average of ...

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August suggests that economic activity has picked up following its severe downturn. Conditions in financial markets have improved further, and activity in the housing sector has increased. Household spending seems to be stabilizing, but remains constrained by ongoing job ...

Employers took 2,690 mass layoff actions in August that resulted in the separation of 259,307 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 18, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 12.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, which was a holiday shortened week. On an unadjusted basis, ...

In September, the seasonally adjusted manufacturing index — our broadest measure of manufacturing activity — was unchanged from August's reading of 14. Among the index's components, shipments edged up one point to 22, new orders lost five points to finish at 13, and the jobs index picked up five points to end ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index dropped 2% in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis.

The drop is the biggest in eight months and comes on weaker traffic, particularly at department stores. ICSC called the slowest for that space since late April. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales rise 0.6% in the latest week ...

The Conference Board LEI for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in August, following a 0.9 percent gain in July, and a 0.8 percent rise in June. Since reaching a peak in July 2007, the LEI fell for twenty months – the longest downtrend since the mid 1970s – but it has been rising since April and its gains have become very widespread. The ...

The region's manufacturing sector is showing signs of growth, according to firms polled for this month's Business Outlook Survey. Indexes for general activity, new orders, and shipments all registered positive readings for the second consecutive month. Indexes for employment, work hours, and the prices received for manufactured goods ...

For the week ending September 5, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer gave up -0.2 percent following three consecutive weeks of solid gains. Because the barometer is roughly a measure of weekly GDP it tracked the broad economy as the severe recession turned milder, and finally found recovery in the third quarter. With one month to go, ...

In the week ending Sept. 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 545,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 557,000. The 4-week moving average was 563,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's revised average of ...

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 579,000. This is 2.7 percent (±1.2%) above the revised July rate of 564,000, but is 32.4 percent (±1.3%) below the August 2008 estimate of 857,000. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of ...

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged higher for a third consecutive month in September, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI rose one point to 19 this month, its highest level since May of 2008.

Builders are seeing ...

Industrial output rose 0.8 percent in August, following an upwardly revised increase of 1.0 percent in July. Production in manufacturing expanded 0.6 percent in August, and the index excluding motor vehicles and parts increased 0.4 percent. The gain in July for manufacturing was revised up 0.4 percentage point, to 1.4 percent; in addition, ...

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index has decreased 1.5 percent over the last 12 months on a not seasonally adjusted basis.

The 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted increase in the CPI-U was driven by a 9.1 ...

The U.S. current-account deficit—the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and net unilateral current transfers—decreased to $98.8 billion (preliminary) in the second quarter of 2009, the smallest deficit since the fourth quarter of 2001, from $104.5 billion (revised) in the first quarter. The decrease was more than ...

Real average hourly earnings fell 0.2 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This decline stemmed from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), up by 0.6 percent, outpacing 0.3 percent growth in average hourly earnings for production and ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 11, 2009. This week’s results include an adjustment to account for the Labor Day holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 8.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for July, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $978.4 billion, up 0.1 percent (±0.2%) from June 2009 and down 17.8 percent (±0.4%) from July ...

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers improved in September, following the upturn first observed in August. The general business conditions index increased 7 points, to 18.9, its highest level since late 2007. The new orders index was positive and higher than last month, while the ...

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 1.7 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This increase followed a 0.9-percent decline in July and a 1.8-percent advance in June. In August, at the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $351.4 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month, but 5.3 percent (±0.7%) below August 2008. Total ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index was flat in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales rise 1.6% in the latest week, with the decline moderating from recent ...

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that July 2009 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 $314.5 billion, up 0.5 percent (+/-0.5%)* from the revised June level, but were down 19.8 percent (+/-1.1%) ...

The U.S. Import Price Index increased 2.0 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, driven primarily by a 9.8 percent advance in fuel prices. Import prices fell 0.7 percent in July. Prices for U.S. exports rose 0.7 percent in August after falling 0.3 percent the ...

For the week ending August 29, 2009, the DJ-BTMU U.S. Business Barometer rose +0.3 percent for a second consecutive week. Thanks to inventory building, which kicked in as expected in the third quarter, the barometer posted back-to-back monthly increases in July and August – something that hasn’t happened since December 2007/January 2008. ...

The Nation's international deficit in goods and services increased to $32.0 billion in July from $27.5 billion (revised) in June, as imports increased more than exports.

Goods and Services
Exports increased to $127.6 billion in July from $124.9 billion in June. Goods were $86.7 billion in July, up from $84.1 billion in June, and services were $40.9 billion in July, up from $40.8 billion in June. ...

In the week ending Sept. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 550,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 576,000. The 4-week moving average was 570,000, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of ...

Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts indicate that economic activity continued to stabilize in July and August. Relative to the last report, Dallas indicated that economic activity had firmed, while Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, and San Francisco mentioned signs of improvement. Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, ...

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.6% in the week ended Saturday from its level a week before on a seasonally adjusted, comparable-store basis. On a year-on-year basis, retailers saw sales decrease 0.1% in the latest week, with the decline moderating from recent ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 4, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 17.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15.8 ...

Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 10-1/2 percent in July 2009. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 8 percent, and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 11-3/4 percent.

...

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in August (-216,000), and the unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Although job losses continued in many of the major industry sectors in August, the declines have moderated in ...

Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector contracted in August, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the latest Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®.

The Non-Manufacturing Index registered 48.4 percent in August, 2 percentage points higher than the 46.4 percent registered in July, indicating contraction in the non-manufacturing sector for the 11th consecutive month but at a slower rate. The Non-Manufacturing Business ...