Economy in Brief

Regular gasoline prices eased to $2.22 per gallon last week (-17.5% y/y) after rising to $2.24 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices remained near the highest level since October. The price compares to [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index increased 1.1% during April to 93.6 following declines in three of the four prior months. An improved 8% of firms reported that now was a [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that the Composite Index of Home Affordability declined 2.6% during April to 169.3 following two months of increase. The index remained down 2.4% versus 12-months earlier. During the last [...]

German orders rose by 1.9% in March, their strongest gain since June of last year. But the gain came on a 4.3% spurt in foreign orders which only rebounded from a 2.1% drop in February. Domestic orders fell by 1.2% in March. And there [...]

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, [...]

Consumer credit outstanding jumped $29.7 billion during March (6.6% y/y) following a $14.1 billion February rise, revised from $17.2 billion. It was the fastest gain since November 2001. A $15.7 billion increase had been expected in [...]

Japan's services sector crossed over to the dark side, showing a reading below 50 in April to join the manufacturing sector's already weak reading. The manufacturing gauge has a 48.2 reading, having been below 50 (showing contraction) [...]

The April labor market report contained mixed signals. Growth in nonfarm payrolls eased to 160,000 (1.9% y/y) following downwardly revised gains of 208,000 and 233,000 during the prior two months. A 208,000 increase had been expected [...]