Recent Updates
- Canada: Employment Insurance (Mar), Industrial Production & Raw Material Prices (Apr)
- Mexico: Manufacturing Employment (Mar)
- Latvia: Labor Force Statistics (Apr)
- UK: CBI Industrial Trends Survey (May)
- 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 Robert Brusca July 30, 2008
Nominal retail sales fell by 0.2% in June as inflation pushed
ahead driving real retail sales to a 0.7% drop. Inflation adjusted
sales have been dropping at an increasingly rapid rate. But, Yr/Yr
sales growth is still positive. In the quarter to date, real retail
sales are falling at a 2.8% annual pace.
Japan shows signs of economic slippage as the authorities have
been expressing more concerns. Japan’s Economics Minister Hiroko Ota
said that weak job data reflected a stalling in Japan's economy.
Government data showed that the jobless rate rose in June to a near
two-year high of 4.1 percent and household spending fell again from a
year earlier, in a sigh of further trouble for an economy already
battered by surging energy costs and faced with slowing exports. Retail
sales adjusted for inflation are another sign in this series of
measures reminding us that Japan is facing severe challenges.
| Japan Retail Sales Trends | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Retail Sales | Jun 08 |
May 08 |
Apr 08 |
3MO | 6MO | 12MO | YrAgo | QTR-to Date |
| Sales SA | 0.0% | -0.1% | -0.1% | -0.8% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.6% | -0.8% |
| Motor Vehicles | -3.1% | -3.2% | 1.7% | -17.0% | -12.1% | -0.7% | -5.3% | -13.0% |
| Food & Beverages | -0.3% | 2.3% | -0.5% | 6.0% | 6.4% | 3.6% | -0.3% | 5.1% |
| Fabrics & Apparel | 2.2% | -0.2% | -2.5% | -2.2% | 4.9% | -1.3% | -4.8% | -9.0% |
| Real Retail | -0.7% | -0.7% | 0.2% | -4.8% | -2.4% | -1.7% | 0.7% | -2.8% |
| Memo: CPI | 0.7% | 0.6% | -0.3% | 4.0% | 2.6% | 2.0% | -0.1% | 2.0% |
