Economy in Brief

The OECD LEIs show values below the true stable `100' level for the OECD as a whole, for the U.S., for the U.K., for Japan and for China. Only the EMU region has an index above 100, at 100.6 in October. However, the EMU's normal [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index declined 1.3 points during November to seasonally adjusted 94.8, the lowest level since June. The latest figure remained below the high of [...]

Consumer credit outstanding increased $16.0 billion during October after a $28.6 billion September rise, revised from $28.9 billion. Expectations were for a $20.0 billion gain in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During the last [...]

Germany's industrial production rose by 0.2% in October after falling for two consecutive months. Manufacturing IP which also fell for two consecutive months is advancing by a stronger 0.6% in October. The manufacturing IP gain is [...]

The National Association for Business Economics forecasts 2.6% growth in U.S. real economic activity in 2016, which was little-revised from 2.7% expected in October. Expected growth of 2.4% this year also was changed from 2.5%. The [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit in goods and services widened modestly in October to $43.9 billion from $42.5 billion in September. The latter was revised from $40.8 billion. The Action Economics Forecast Survey pointed to a deficit of [...]

Nonfarm payrolls grew 211,000 during November following upwardly revised gains of 298,000 and 145,000 during the prior two months. The increase outpaced expectations for a 200,000 gain in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The rise [...]

German orders snapped a three-month losing streak to rise by 1.8% in October month-to-month. Both foreign and domestic order rose in October. Foreign orders had fallen for three months in a row previously and domestic orders had [...]