Economy in Brief

Economic slowdown are unpleasant words when combined to describe the backdrop for energy prices. Last week, weakness in the economy helped lower the pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline another eight cents to $3.43. Prices were [...]

Manufacturing orders slipped 0.2% last month, about as expected. That followed a downwardly revised 2.1% July gain, revised from 2.4%. For durable goods only orders slipped 0.1%, unchanged from the advance report. Nondurable goods [...]

Consumers reacted to new model offerings by manufactures with enthusiasm. Unit sales of light vehicles during September rose 6.9% from August to 13.10M units (SAAR) following a 1.1% August decline. Sales were at the highest level [...]

The financial turmoil in the Euro Area is beginning to take its toll on manufacturing production. Signs of a worldwide slowdown in manufacturing are becoming apparent in purchasing managers' appraisals of the outlook. The September [...]

Japan’s Tankan reading has risen from its recession lows and the outlook is up in Q3. While the rebound is the firm for large companies it is progressively more guarded as the size of the enterprise surveyed geos down. But the actual [...]

Downward momentum in factory sector activity stabilized last month. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its September Composite Index of factory sector activity rose slightly to 51.6 from an unrevised 50.6 in August. [...]

Volatility has been great in the monthly construction put-in-place figures, but there has been some trend improvement. During August, activity rose 1.4% after a little-revised 1.4% July decline. The monthly rise lifted activity 4.8% [...]

German retail sales took a sharp turn lower in August. Vehicle registrations were lower as well. Real retail sales excluding autos fell sharply in August as well. Nominal retail ex-auto sales are actually on a modest accelerating [...]