Economy in Brief

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index fell during April to 1.3. That followed an unrevised March improvement to 2.0. Haver Analytics constructs a seasonally adjusted figure [...]

In the European monetary union for the month of February the merchandise trade balance improved sharply. Exports in the month edged higher rising by 0.1%. The driving factor for the trade improvement was the decline in imports. [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo declined to 42 this month following an unrevised March reading of 44. Expectations were for an index reading of 45 in April. The latest was [...]

Forward momentum in factory sector activity is losing steam. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that the Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions declined to 3.05 this month from an unrevised 9.24 in March. [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for mid-April fell sharply m/m to 72.3 from 78.6 in March. The latest reading matched the low this past July. It was the lowest since December 2011 and compared to the consensus [...]

The producer price index for finished goods fell 0.6% last month (+1.1% y/y) and reversed an unrevised 0.7% February gain. The decline exceeded expectations for a 0.2% dip. Prices excluding food & energy gained 0.2% (1.7% y/y) for the [...]

Retail sales during March fell 0.4% (+2.8% y/y) following a 1.0% rise in February, earlier reported as 1.1%. The latest decline was deeper than an expected 0.1% slip, according to Action Economics. Retail sales excluding autos also [...]

The Federal Government budget deficit narrowed sharply to $105.5B during March of FY'13 versus a deficit of $198.2B one year earlier. The figure roughly matched expectations. So far this fiscal year the deficit has totaled $600.5B, [...]