Economy in Brief

Happy central bankers - The ECB can be happy. The Bundesbank can be happy. Inflation is beating a retreat in the wake of the financial crisis and as we get about one-year into economic rebound. Over three months the HICP is actually [...]

The American Bankers Association reported yesterday that the percentage of most types of closed-end loans behind on payments declined in March. Leading the decline was the drop in delinquent auto loan payments. Just 1.79% of loans [...]

Consumers' deleveraging may be intensifying. Not only did consumer credit outstanding decline $9.1B during May, but the sharp $14.9B April drop was revised from a modest advance reported initially. Finally, May continued a string of [...]

Higher! German Industrial production rose by 2.6% in May after a rise of 1.2% in April. The sequential annualized growth rates continue to ramp up. Yesterday, industrial orders fell and that may be a wake up call, since orders do [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped last week to 454,000 following an upwardly revised increase during the prior week to 475,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims also slipped to 466,000 but still was [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline fell last week to $2.73 per gallon last week and reversed the gains during the prior two weeks. Pulled higher by firm demand, prices have risen from the late-2009 level of $2.61. Yesterday, the spot [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications jumped another 6.7% last week. The increase raised the level 14.6% versus June and by nearly one-half from July '09. Firm lending activity continued to reflect [...]

Shopping at chain stores improved another 1.0% last week to the highest level in two-months after the 2.1% gain during the prior week. The gain lifted sales 2.2% above the depressed June average. During the last ten years there has [...]