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The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)
- The sum of all goods and services produced either by domestic or
foreign companies. GDP indicates the pace at which a country's economy
is growing (or shrinking) and is considered the broadest indicator of
economic output and growth.
Industrial
Production
- It is a chain-weighted measure of the change in the production of
the nation's factories, mines and utilities as well as a measure of
their industrial capacity and of how many available resources among
factories, utilities and mines are being used (commonly known as
capacity utilization). The manufacturing sector accounts for
one-quarter of the economy. The capacity utilization rate provides an
estimate of how much factory capacity is in use.
Purchasing Managers
Index (PMI)
- The National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM), now called
the Institute for Supply Management, releases a monthly composite
index of national manufacturing conditions, constructed from data on
new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs,
inventories, prices, employment, export orders, and import orders. It
is divided into manufacturing and non-manufacturing sub-indices.
Producer Price
Index (PPI)
- The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a measure of price changes in the
manufacturing sector. It measures average changes in selling prices
received by domestic producers in the manufacturing, mining,
agriculture, and electric utility industries for their output. The
PPIs most often used for economic analysis are those for finished
goods, intermediate goods, and crude goods.
Consumer Price
Index (CPI)
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average price
level paid by urban consumers (80% of population) for a fixed basket
of goods and services. It reports price changes in over 200
categories. The CPI also includes various user fees and taxes directly
associated with the prices of specific goods and services.
Durable Goods
- Durable Goods Orders measures new orders placed with domestic
manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods.
A durable good is defined as a good that lasts an extended period of
time (over three years) during which its services are extended.
Employment Cost
Index (ECI)
- Payroll employment is a measure of the number of jobs in more than
500 industries in all states and 255 metropolitan areas. The
employment estimates are based on a survey of larger businesses and
counts the number of paid employees working part-time or full-time in
the nation's business and government establishments.
Retail Sales
- The retail sales report is a measure of the total receipts of retail
stores from samples representing all sizes and kinds of business in
retail trade throughout the nation. It is the timeliest indicator of
broad consumer spending patterns and is adjusted for normal seasonal
variation, holidays, and trading-day differences. Retail sales include
durable and nondurable merchandise sold, and services and excise taxes
incidental to the sale of merchandise. Excluded are sales taxes
collected directly from the customer.
Housing
Starts
- The Housing Starts report measures the number of residential units
on which construction is begun each month. A start in construction is
defined as the beginning of excavation of the foundation for the
building and is comprised primarily of residential housing. Housing is
very interest rate sensitive and is one of the first sectors to react
to changes in interest rates. Significant reaction of start/permits to
changing interest rates signals interest rates are nearing trough or
peak. To analyze, focus on the percentage change in levels from the
previous month. Report is released around the middle of the following
month.
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