EMU economic data continues to show spotty results. Industrial production for the euro area in March is now tabulated, showing a drop of 0.8%. Output is still higher in the quarter even after two straight months of IP declines because [...]
Introducing
Robert Brusca
in:Our Authors
Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
Publications by Robert Brusca
Global| May 12 2016Euro Area IP Falls for the Second Month in a Row
- Global| May 11 2016
U.K. IP Is Wobbly
U.K. manufacturing industrial production rose by 0.1% in March as it fell at a 2% annual rate in Q1 2016. IP gained in March wholly on the back of capital equipment as consumer durables and nondurables output fell and intermediate [...]
- Global| May 10 2016
German Exports Rebound and German Trade Strains EMU
The German trade surplus has moved sharply higher in March (on data back to 1996, the surplus never before been this large). Exports are up by 1.9% in the month and steadily accelerating to an 11.7% rate of growth over three months [...]
- Global| May 09 2016
German Orders Recover But Go Both North and South by Origin
German orders rose by 1.9% in March, their strongest gain since June of last year. But the gain came on a 4.3% spurt in foreign orders which only rebounded from a 2.1% drop in February. Domestic orders fell by 1.2% in March. And there [...]
- Global| May 06 2016
Japan's PMI Indices Show Widespread Contraction in April
Japan's services sector crossed over to the dark side, showing a reading below 50 in April to join the manufacturing sector's already weak reading. The manufacturing gauge has a 48.2 reading, having been below 50 (showing contraction) [...]
- Global| May 05 2016
U.K. Economy Shows Weakness All Around
U.K. sector PMIs continue to lose momentum as the date for the Brexit vote looms. There is no way to connect the dots and blame the weakening on fears over Brexit, however. In Europe, the EMU PMIs have stepped down but have since [...]
- Global| May 04 2016
Euro Area Retail Sales Fall/Slow, Raising Questions
Euro area retail sales fell in March for the first time since October 2015. The 0.5% drop is the largest drop since sales fell by 0.5% in September 2014. That drop proved to a one-off affair and sales thereafter accelerated. In this [...]
- Global| May 03 2016
PPI Drops Abate in March But Continue to Decelerate from 6-Mo to 3-Mo
The euro area PPI excluding construction rose by 0.1% in March but its progression from 12-month to six-month to three-month continues to show increasingly rapid deceleration. With a rise in prices in March, that decelerating trend is [...]
- Global| May 02 2016
European Manufacturing PMIs Make Small Gains in April
In these early reporting EMU countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the Netherlands), the manufacturing PMIs are lower in three in April (France, Austria, and the Netherlands). Only two were lower in March (France and [...]
- Global| Apr 29 2016
Euro Area Unemployment Drops to 4.5-Year Low
EMU unemployment fell to 10.2% in March after being stuck at 10.4% for three consecutive months. The EU rate fell to 8.8% in March after being steady at 8.9% in each of the two previous months. Most impressive is the cross-sectional [...]
- Global| Apr 28 2016
EU and Euro Area Show Some Improvement in April
The EU Commission Indices for the EU and EMU showed gains in April. The EU index rose to 105.1 this month from 104.6 in March; the EMU index rose by 0.9% reversing its 0.9% drop last month. The EU index sits in the 60.7 percentile of [...]
- Global| Apr 27 2016
Italian Consumer Confidence Edges Back
The Italian consumer confidence index made a large step back in February; since then, it has hovered at a lower plateau. In April, there was slight further erosion to that plateau. While consumer confidence made a slight step lower, [...]
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