Economy in Brief

German import prices are holding relatively steady in negative territory, bringing a steady deflation impulse to the German economy. At the same time, German export prices have accelerated, rising at a 0.3% pace over 12 months to a [...]

The GfK reading for U.K. consumer confidence fell to -4 in December from -2 in November. The -4 reading is the weakest reading in nine months, since March's reading of -5. Since May, the index had been in a range of +1 to -3. The [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity rose to 8 this month, the highest level in three months. It remained, however, near the middle of the recent range. The [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for December declined to 24.5 and reversed most of its improvement to 40.8 during November. The figure, nevertheless, continued [...]

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators from the Conference Board increased 0.6% last month following a 0.6% October gain, revised from 0.9%. Eighty percent of the component series improved m/m and 95% of the series are higher versus [...]

The chart plots the Ifo indices and you can easily see that the climate, current and expectations indices bounced higher in December from a local low in November. The index readings are still weak in the sense of being lethargic, not [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ended December 13 fell to 289,000 (-21.5% y/y) after falling to a little-revised 295,000 in the prior week. It was the lowest level of claims in six weeks. The four-week moving [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated, "Based on its current assessment (of the economy), the Committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy." The [...]