Economy in Brief

This Fall has been a good season for home builders according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo report on housing market activity. The Composite Housing Market Index for December rose another two points to 21, [...]

Japan’s Tankan report is a disappointment with momentum being beaten back after a year of trying to maintain its balance in positive territory. The large company MFG tankan outlook dropped to -5 for 2012-Q1 from +4 in 2010Q4. Most [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's General Business Conditions Index rose in December and remained in positive territory. The Index of General Business Conditions rose to 10.3 from an unrevised 3.6 in November. The figures have [...]

There's still little pricing power in the U.S. economy. The November Consumer Price Index slipped marginally following a slight October decline. The decline compared with expectations for a 0.1% uptick. Consumer prices less food & [...]

The Euro-Area is under pressure; France’s AAA rating is being assailed. But the French economy is also under a real grind to lower growth. Euro-Area members are simply in a very tight, pressured, uncomfortable place with little in the [...]

Industrial production fell 0.2% during November following an unrevised 0.7% October gain. The latest decline matched Consensus expectations, according to Action Economics. Factory sector output fell 0.4% and reversed the October [...]

The November producer price index for finished goods rebounded 0.3% following an unrevised 0.3% October decline. The figure compared to Consensus expectations for a 0.2% increase, according to the Action Economics survey. The increase [...]

In another sign of labor market healing, initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped sharply last week to 366,000 from 385,000 (revised from 382,000) during the week prior. The latest reading was the lowest since May 2008. [...]