Economy in Brief: 2012

The chart above is an approximation of purchasing power parity for the euro calculated on a broad basis. Despite its recent drop and the dollar’s rise the euro evaluated and weighted against its main trading partners remains above [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's General Business Conditions Index improved in January and continued to indicate expansion. The Index of General Business Conditions rose to 7.3 from 6.8 in December. The data for 2011 was [...]

Improvement in the labor market appears back on track. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 352,000 last week from 402,000 the week earlier (revised from 399,000). The latest figure was the lowest reading since April, [...]

Full-year 2011 was moderately improved for new home building, but was not great. In December only, the level of housing starts overall fell to 657,000 (AR) from an unrevised 685,000 in November. The latest fell short of expectations [...]

There was a pickup in inflation last year, but the very latest figures show the pressure easing. The December Consumer Price Index was unchanged following a marginal November decline. The latest compared to expectations for a 0.1% [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline rose one penny last week to $3.39 per gallon, adding to the prior week's eight cent gain. Retail prices usually decline this time of year with reduced seasonal demand. To account for this pattern, [...]

The housing sector is convincingly on the mend according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo report on housing market activity. The Composite Housing Market Index for January rose another four points to 25, [...]

Industrial production recovered 0.4% (2.9% y/y) during December following an unrevised 0.2% November slip. The latest gain roughly matched Consensus expectations, according to Action Economics. Factory sector output rose a stronger [...]