Economy in Brief

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, [...]

Prices in the U.S. foreign trade sector weakened last month and reversed earlier strength. Import prices fell 0.5% (-2.7% y/y) during March after the 0.6% February rise, earlier reported as 1.1%. The Action Economics survey looked for [...]

With most of the European monetary union's first 12 members having reported we can assess inflation in the zone. Of the 10 reporting countries in the table only three have inflation at or above the ECB's ceiling rate of 2%. That would [...]

Last week's decline in initial claims for jobless insurance more-than reversed strength during the prior two weeks. Claims fell to 346,000 (-8.5% y/y) during the week ended April 6 from a revised 388,000 during the prior week, [...]

The OECD's leading economic indicators show ongoing improvement among the major industrial economies. United States, Japan, and China, in particular, show significant upward movements in February from their January readings. Those [...]