Economy in Brief

The price of regular gasoline retreated last week to $3.63 per gallon but remained up 2.6% versus last year. Prices remain below the $3.78 per gallon peak reached late in February. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to [...]

Consumer spending this month seems to be on a weak footing. The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales inched up 0.3% last week (2.5% y/y). During the week earlier, however, sales [...]

The cost of living remains under control. The consumer price index edged up a minimal 0.1% in May (1.4% y/y), the first positive change in three months. Expectations were for a 0.2% increase. Prices excluding food and energy gained [...]

Housing starts recovered last month following a sharp April decline. There has been no growth, however, during the last several months. Total housing starts increased 6.8% (28.6% y/y) during May to 914,000 (AR) from 856,000 in April, [...]

In April exports in the European Monetary Union (EMU) fell by 0.8% after rising by 2.6% in March. Also in April imports rose by 0.5% after falling by 1.2% in March. The trends are somewhat contrary to the monthly developments. Exports [...]

Improvement in the housing market is gaining momentum. The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo improved greatly to 52 in June from an unrevised May reading of 44. Expectations were [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that its Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 7.84 this month from an unrevised -1.43 in May. The latest figure exceeded Consensus expectations for 0.8. That, [...]

French retail sales continue to be weak. In May retail sales volumes fell by 0.2% month-to-month with a rise of 5.1% in food sales blunting a drop of 2.8% in nonfood sales. Nonfood sales have fallen for four months in a row. The [...]