Economy in Brief

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index declined 1.1% during February to 92.9 following a 1.4% January fall. It was the lowest level since February 2014. According to the NFIB, [...]

Regular gasoline prices continued to move higher to $1.84 per gallon last week (-26.0% y/y) from $1.78 in the prior week. It was the highest price in six weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The price compares to a 2014 [...]

Consumer credit outstanding increased $10.5 billion during January (6.5% y/y) following a $6.4 billion December rise, revised from $21.3 billion. Action Economics Forecast Survey participants looked for a $17.0 billion January [...]

The Labor Market Conditions Index from the Federal Reserve Board includes 19 indicators of labor market activity, covering the broad categories of unemployment and underemployment. These include jobs, workweeks, wages, vacancies, [...]

German orders fell in January for the second straight month. However, each month the declines were relatively small, and together, they fail to offset the 1.5% order gain in November so that the three-month change is still positive. [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit increased to $43.4 billion in December from November's $42.2 billion, which was revised from $42.4 billion. The December result was modestly larger than the Action Economics Forecast Survey estimate of [...]

The table contains data from the EMU and for select EMU member countries as well as comparisons with the U.S. Quarterly GDP weakened in only four countries compared to their respective Q3 rates of growth. Year-over-year growth rates [...]

The job market firmed during February. Payroll employment increased by 242,000 after slowing in January, while the unemployment held steady at 4.9%, its lowest level since February 2008. The overall unemployment rate including [...]