Economy in Brief

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that its Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 9.46 this month from an unrevised 7.84 in June. The latest figure beat Consensus expectations for 5.0. [...]

Total business inventories nudged up 0.1% during May (3.8% y/y) following a downwardly revised 0.2% April gain. The figure was accompanied by a 1.1% jump (3.1% y/y) in business sales. As a result, the inventory-to-sales ratio ticked [...]

Export trends in the current month appear to be negative with real export flows in five of eight countries in the table showing negative trends in May and four of them showing negative results in April. However, over three months [...]

The consumer remains in a buying mood, but purchases last month were not broadly based. Retail sales increased 0.4% during June (5.7% y/y) following a 0.5% May increase, initially reported as 0.6%. A 0.7% rise had been expected [...]

Eurozone manufacturing production in May fell by 0.4% after rising by 1% in April. The output of consumer durables fell sharply, by 2.3%, posting a second drop in a row, a drop of 1.9%. Capital goods output fell by 1.5% in May. That [...]

The consumer remains upbeat. Consumer sentiment in mid-July fell marginally to 83.9 from 84.1 in June. The figure remained up, however, from its August 2011 low of 55.8 and was just slightly lower than its May peak of 84.5. Consensus [...]

A surge in energy prices has changed the complexion of the U.S. inflation environment, for the worse. The producer price index for finished goods jumped 0.8% in June (1.8% y/y) following an unrevised 0.5% May increase. The gain [...]

The Federal Government ran a $116.5B budget surplus during June of FY'13. During June of last year, the government ran a $59.7B deficit. The 2013 figure compared to consensus expectations for a $40.0B surplus. So far this fiscal year [...]