Economy in Brief

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales were off 5.4% last week (1.7% y/y). The decline followed a 2.5% rise during all of December after a 1.1% November increase. During the [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline prices remained at $3.33 (1.0% y/y) last week but remained down versus last year's peak of $3.78 per gallon. Much of the decline versus the peak reflects less driving this time of year. Haver [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit improved to $33.4 billion during November compared to a revised $39.3 billion in October, last month reported as $40.6 billion. The November deficit was the lowest since October 2009. A $40.0 billion [...]

The INSEE French household indicator rose to 85 in December from 84 in November. The reading is the same as its three-month average, its six-month average and only one point above its 12-month average. Consumer confidence in France is [...]

Orders to all manufacturers matched expectations and jumped 1.8% (4.9% y/y) during November, reaching a new expansion high. The gain was powered by a little-revised 3.4% surge in durable goods orders, led by higher aircraft orders. [...]

The Markit purchasing data for EMU has been finalized as the final numbers confirm an upswing underway in the European Monetary Union. For the whole area itself, we see a clear progression of improvement as the 12-month average for [...]

The Composite Index for the service and construction sectors from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) fell during December to 53.0 after a sharp November decline to 53.9. The latest fell short of consensus expectations for [...]

Stronger employment and income powered unit motor vehicle sales during all of last year to 15.55 million units. It was the highest level since 2007 and up 7.3% from 2012, according to the Autodata Corporation. During December, unit [...]