Economy in Brief

For finished goods, producer price inflation picked up further last month and pressure is building for future increases. The March finished goods PPI reversed its prior month's decline with a 0.7% increase. As a result,the y/y gain [...]

The UK claimant count continues to make its slow turn to lower levels. The unemployment rate calculated from claimant data also is trending lower. However, a broader ILO survey has shown the opposite to be true. On the ILO measure the [...]

The UK claimant count continues to make its slow turn to lower levels. The unemployment rate calculated from claimant data also is trending lower. However, a broader ILO survey has shown the opposite to be true. On the ILO measure the [...]

The German financial community is upbeat on Germany's economic prospects over the next six months despite the disruptions caused by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. The ZEW Survey of institutional investors and analysts took [...]

Consumers still seem interested in spending money after being cooped up indoors this winter. As a result, chain store sales last week held onto the sharp gain early in the month and the y/y change remained at 4.6%, its strongest gain [...]

The trend has been upward for the cost of regular gasoline. Last week the price for a gallon remained at the prior week's high of $2.86 which was up by 78% since the December, 2008 low. At the margin, however, there's been some [...]

The trend has been upward for the cost of regular gasoline. Last week the price for a gallon remained at the prior week's high of $2.86 which was up by 78% since the December, 2008 low. At the margin, however, there's been some [...]

The Japanese consumer is becoming a little less pessimistic. The Economic and Social Research Institute's (ESRI) diffusion index for Consumer Confidence reached a low point of 26.7 in December 2008. The index rose steadily through [...]