Economy in Brief

Retail and food service sales gained 0.3% during May following a 0.5% April advance, revised from 0.1%. A 0.5% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales of motor vehicles & parts increased 1.4% (10.4% [...]

Total business inventories increased 0.6% in April (5.0% y/y) after a 0.4% rise during March. It was the firmest monthly increase in six months. Merchant wholesale inventories jumped another 1.1% (6.7% y/y). Inventories in the factory [...]

Import prices nudged up 0.1% during May (0.4% y/y) following a 0.5% April decline, last month reported as -0.4%. A 0.2% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 1.1% rise (3.0% y/y) in petroleum prices [...]

The rate of labor market improvement is evening out. Initial claims for jobless insurance increased to 317,000 during the week ended June 7 from 313,000 in the prior week, revised up from 312,000. A 315,000 level of claims was [...]

The finalized figures in industrial production show that the European Monetary Union made a nice bounce back from previous weakness. Perhaps this will take some pressure off of the European Central Bank. However, on the inflation [...]

The improved labor market is spurring more consumer purchases. Retail and food service sales gained 0.3% during May following a 0.5% April advance, revised from 0.1%. A 0.5% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

The Federal Government posted a $130.0 billion budget deficit during May of FY 2014. The latest figure compared to expectations for a $143.9 billion deficit in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. In the first eight months of this [...]

The UK economy continues to make progress. According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), a respected think tank in the United Kingdom, the UK economy has surpassed its pre-recession peak reached in [...]