Economy in Brief

After looking at the table below, it's easy to see price strength. The price of gold hit $1,400 per ounce in November, pulling it up nearly one-quarter this year after a like gain in 2009. Silver prices also have been strong. Their [...]

Japan machinery orders, both 'core' orders and total orders, are showing some progress. Granted both series fell sharply in September but each had risen strongly in August. Beneath all that noise - very loud noise - is a hint, a vague [...]

The recent volatility of oil prices has dominated the monthly ups and downs of U.S. import prices. During October there was a clear upward influence as there has been through this year. Import prices jumped 0.9% last month following a [...]

This latest figure covering labor market conditions indicates improvement after last week's deterioration. Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped sharply last week to 435,000, the lowest level since early-July. That [...]

Like peas in a pod...NOT! -- Despite the similarity in their overall cyclical behavior very different forces are afoot in the Italian and French industrial sectors. Trends in France - French consumer spending is blowing through hot [...]

The September U.S. foreign trade deficit improved to $44.0B following its little-revised deterioration to $46.5B during August. The figure was narrower than expectations for $45.0B. For all of Q3 the deficit averaged $44.4B versus [...]

Japan's Economy Watcher's index fell in October as the bottom fell out of the current conditions index. That index is now in the bottom 60th percentile (top42 percentile) of its High/Low range. By queue some 70% of the values for the [...]

Manufacturing in the Netherlands accounts for about 15% of total Real Gross Value Added, but 57% of the Gross Value Added by the goods producing sectors. Data on new orders, turnover and production in manufacturing are available in [...]