Economy in Brief

Consumers continue to see a decline in sellers' pricing power. The consumer price index for November fell 0.3% (+1.8% y/y) following a 0.1% October uptick. A 0.2% decline had been expected. The decline owed to a 4.1% drop (+0.3% y/y) [...]

Business inventories rose a slower 0.4% (5.7% y/y) during October following a 0.6% September rise. Factory inventories ticked up just 0.1% (3.1% y/y). The slower 0.6% gain in merchant wholesalers inventories reflected a 3.1% decline [...]

UK industrial orders as reported by the CBI survey (Confederation of British Industry) are up sharply cutting their negative reading to -12 in December (Merry Christmas!) from -21 in November. This jump still leaves the series weak in [...]

The producer price index for finished goods fell 0.8% last month after an unrevised 0.2% October drop. The latest decline contrasted with expectations for a 0.5% drop. Prices excluding food & energy ticked up 0.1% versus expectations [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance fell further last week with the passage of Hurricane Sandy. Claims dropped during the week ended December 8 to 343,000 from 372,000 in the prior period, initially reported as 370,000. Consensus [...]

Total retail sales recovered 0.3% last month following an unrevised 0.3% October decline. A 0.4% rise November sales had been expected according to Action Economics. Retail sales were unchanged excluding autos, as expected, for the [...]

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee today left the Federal funds rate in a "range from 0 to 1/4 percent". The Fed funds rate has remained unchanged since late-2008 at its lowest level ever. The discount rate also was left [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications jumped 6.2% last week (37.5% y/y) after a 4.5% rise during the prior week. The rise was paced by an 8.0% surge (46.7% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing [...]