Economy in Brief

The rise has been relentless. Pump prices for regular gasoline rose another two cents last week to $3.94 per gallon, their highest since last May. The gain has been seventy cents (22%) since year-end. Reduced seasonal demand typically [...]

The Q1 Tankan results for large Japanese enterprises show a steady manufacturing sector and a slightly improved non-manufacturing sector. Medium-sized firms also show no MFG sector improvement with an even larger non MFG sector [...]

In mid February of this year, the Bank of Japan announced a price stability goal of 1.0% in place of its price expectation of 0.5% and raised its Asset Purchase Program by 10 trillion yen to 65 trillion yen in mid February. The policy [...]

Warm temperatures didn't seem to give much of a lift to construction spending. During February, outlays fell 1.1% (+5.8% y/y) following a downwardly revised 0.8% January drop. The decline disappointed Consensus expectations for a 0.7% [...]

Factory sector growth remained just moderate last month. The Composite Index of industrial sector activity from the Institute For Supply Management inched up to an expected 53.4 last month from an unrevised 52.4 in February. The [...]

German retail sales trends are unambiguously weak. Expressed in volume terms excluding autos they are falling at an accelerating pace. Auto registrations alone are falling at an increasingly sharp pace. The events in Spain should be [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for March increased to 76.2 from 75.3 in February. The figure compared to expectations for a slight dip to 75.0. An improved reading of current economic conditions led the gain [...]

Personal income increased just 0.2% during February after lessened gains of 0.2% and 0.4% during the prior two months. The latest rise missed expectations for a 0.4% gain. Wage & salary disbursements reflected the improved gains in [...]