Economy in Brief

Shoppers felt the urge to spend (a lot) during the holiday season. Chain store sales jumped another 1.2% last week (5.3% y/y) to a record high. During the last ten years there has been a 66% correlation between the y/y change in chain [...]

It is hard to say with a straight face to anyone involved in markets that things in Europe are looking better. But the EMU PMIs for MFG and now for services each have taken a turn for the better in December. Yet Euro bourses, fixed [...]

Supply uncertainties recently increased petroleum prices. The price for a barrel of light sweet crude rose last week to $99.77 and remained up sharply from $79.71 averaged during the first week of October. Yesterday, the price jumped [...]

Intuit compiles data covering small business employment. Yesterday it reported improvement in December. Last month's employment index rose 0.3%. That was a bit slower than earlier gains of 0.4% but it raised the y/y increase to a [...]

The Euro Crisis is beginning to have serious repercussions on more and more countries around the world. The declines in demand among the Euro Area countries as a result of the austerity programs they have adopted to deal with the [...]

The level of building activity continues to improve, moderately. Construction spending during November rose 1.2% following a 0.2% October slip, revised from the 0.8% gain reported initially. However, September's gain was revised [...]

Further improvement in the factory sector is in evidence. The Composite Index of factory sector activity from the Institute For Supply Management rose to a six-month high of 53.9, from an unrevised 52.7 in November. The latest reading [...]

There is a good WSJ article today that wraps up the final days of the Berlusconi administration chronicling the role of Angela Merkel. ‘Deepening Crisis Over Euro Pits Leader Against Leader.’ If you have not read it yet, or heard this [...]