Economy in Brief: August 2011

The Japanese motor vehicle industry, which had suffered from supply chain disruptions and power shortage problems following the March earthquake and tsunami disasters is beginning to show progress. Production of motor vehicles fell [...]

The construction sector was not in as dire straights as previously shown, but growth still was negligible. The value of construction spending during June inched up 0.2% following similarly small gains in prior months, when declines [...]

The Institute for Supply Management indicated that its July Composite Index of factory sector activity dropped sharply to 50.9 from an unrevised 55.3 in June. The figure was nearly the lowest since the economic recovery began two [...]

On balance, industrial commodity prices have been moving sideways since the spring. At 174.8, the latest price index reading from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER), which covers industrial [...]