Recent Updates
- Iceland: HICP (Apr)
- Sweden: Valueguard-KTH HOX House Prices (Apr), Capacity Utilization (Q3), Turnover Index (Mar)
- Philippines: International Reserves (Apr)
- Japan: Japan: Machinery Orders (Mar), Housing Credit, Loans for
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continued to Slide Amid Higher Rates
The biggest declines have been in refinancing activity, while applications for purchase are just starting to crack...
UK Inflation Jumps
Inflation is at the highest rate since the series began in January of 1989...
U.S. Industrial Production Much Stronger than Expected in April
The increase in manufacturing output in April was once again led by motor vehicle and parts production...
U.S. Retail Sales Posted Solid Rise in April
Notwithstanding falling real incomes and declining confidence measures, consumer spending posted a solid increase...
U.S. Home Builder Index Took a Steep Drop in May
This is the fifth straight month that builder sentiment has declined...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits and Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation & Fed Policy: A Relationship Which Should Worry The Fed And Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Louise Curley May 10, 2004
The Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Slovakia released Consumer price indexes for April. Since most of the data are seasonally unadjusted, year over year changes are shown in the following table for the first four months of 2004. A slight acceleration is shown in the data for Norway, while the other countries show a stable or slightly decelerating trend.
Except for Slovakia, where inflation is running at about 8%, inflation does not appear to be a problem. In both Greece and the Czech Republic, inflation is running below 3% a year and in Denmark and Norway it is virtually zero.
While the inflation evidence contained in the consumer price indexes has so far been sanguine, consumers' surveys have recently shown a decline in the balance of respondents who expect the price trend to improve over the next twelve months. Moreover, strong world growth has put pressure on commodity prices, particularly that of oil. These factors suggest upward pressure on prices.
Y/Y %Chg in Consumer Price Indexes | Apr 04 | Mar 04 | Feb 04 | Jan 04 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Czech Republic (2000=100) | 2.25 | 2.44 | 2.25 | 2.25 |
Denmark (2000=100) | 0.80 | 0.74 | 0.94 | 1.13 |
Greece (1999=100) | 2.88 | 2.71 | 2.50 | 2.95 |
Norway (1998=100) | 0.35 | -0.62 | -1.75 | -1.83 |
Slovakia (December 2000=100) | 8.02 | 8.26 | 8.50 | 8.29 |
Y/Y % Chg Oil Price (Brent) | 33.19 | 11.00 | -6.33 | -0.10 |
Balance expecting price trend to improve over next 12 mo (Euro Survey) | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 |