Economy in Brief

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for February remained negative at -2.8 versus -3.5 in January. It was the sixth consecutive reading below zero, although losses have [...]

The price level in the euro area dropped again in January as core prices ticked higher. But even core inflation is only at 1% and has virtually no momentum. Headline inflation, the only inflation rate truly `targeted' by the ECB, is [...]

The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2% in January (+2.2% y/y), following a revised 0.3% December decline. The fall matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The three-month change in [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 262,000 during the week ended February 13 from an unrevised 269,000 in the prior week. It was lowest level of initial filings since November 21, 2015. The four-week moving average [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index edged up 0.1% m/m (-0.2% y/y) in January. While this was a modest increase, it was 0.3%-pt above the Action Economics Forecast Survey expectation for a 0.2% m/m decline (this is a [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell last week to an average $1.72 (-24.2% y/y), down from $1.76 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The price compares to a 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. [...]

Japanese machinery orders rose in December by 3.6% for total orders and advanced by 4.2% for core orders, the latter gauge a treatment that excludes bulky capital projects. However, these gains follow huge drops in November that [...]

Overall industrial production jumped 0.9% during January (-0.7% y/y) following declines in the prior three months. It was the largest increase since November 2014. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]