Economy in Brief

Japan's retail sales fell by 0.5% in May, only partly negating the strong rise of 1.6% in April. As a result, sales are still strong, rising at a 6.8% annual rate over three months on a seasonally adjusted basis. Japan's sales are up [...]

Industrial production (headline excluding construction) is showing steady growth in the euro area. IP gained 1.3% in May after a 0.3% rise in April. Manufacturing IP rose by 1.3% after being flat in April. Both headline and [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) rose 0.7% during the last four weeks, and were up 9.4% during the last twelve months. This adds to the strength during [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index declined 7.4% (-37.0% y/y) in the week ended July 7, following a 1.4% rise. It was the lowest level of applications since mid-February. [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level rebounded 0.4% during May following a 0.4% April decline, revised from -0.5%. Inventories rose a moderate 1.9% y/y. Durable goods inventories increased 0.6% (2.8% y/y) following no change in April. [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate declined to 3.7% during May from 3.9% in April, revised from a record high of 4.0%. Despite the decline, the hiring rate improved to 3.7%, its highest level in [...]

Italy's industrial production gained 0.9% in May, reversing a 0.7% drop in April. IP growth in Italy has been a very steady and solid at 3% or better over 12 months and six months; however, having stepped up to a 5.6% pace over three [...]

Regular gasoline prices rose to $2.30 per gallon last week (2.0% y/y) from $2.26 in the prior week. They remained down, however, versus the high of $2.45 per gallon in late-April. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the [...]