Economy in Brief: September 2007

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS reported that chain store sales rose another 0.3% last week, about the same gain as during the prior three weeks. The average level of chain store sales in the first week of [...]

The index of small business optimism in August fell to a low 96.3 in August versus 97.6 during July, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). During the last ten years there has been a 70% correlation [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit narrowed very slightly in July to $59.2B from a little revised $59.4B in June. The figure was quite near Consensus expectations for a deficit of $59.0B. While only a small improvement, the average [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit narrowed very slightly in July to $59.2B from a little revised $59.4B in June. The figure was quite near Consensus expectations for a deficit of $59.0B. While only a small improvement, the average [...]

Revised data for Japan's second quarter GDP revealed a 1.2% seasonally adjusted rate of decline, in contrast to a 0.5% increase estimated earlier and a consensus of a 0.7% decline. The main culprit in the decline was a sharp drop in [...]

GDP slows, private consumption holds up, capital formation slows. GDP is slowing in Italy’s quarterly and annual framework. Private consumption has been holding up and even improving slightly, but remains at a subdued pace around the [...]

French industrial output is up strongly on the heels of weak numbers from Germany and the UK and with ongoing weakness in Italy. In France, industrial production jumped by 1.3% in July, boosted by autos, a sector that had been weak. [...]

The decline in U.S. payrolls during August has raised the question of whether a recession in the overall economy is to come. In the past, sustained employment declines have been coincident with recession's onset, and sometimes they [...]