Economy in Brief

The drop –a sharp drop- in German IP has been echoed throughout the e-zone’s largest economies. In December IP has also fallen in France, in Italy and in Spain. The UK, an EU member country, reports that its IP rose by a strong 0.9% [...]

Higher oil prices and economic recovery were December's double-punch to the U.S. trade accounts. Together, they raised imports and increased the international trade deficit to $40.2B which was the highest level in twelve months. The [...]

Higher oil prices and economic recovery were December's double-punch to the U.S. trade accounts. Together, they raised imports and increased the international trade deficit to $40.2B which was the highest level in twelve months. The [...]

The budget crises in Greece, Spain and Portugal have left their mark on the Euro. The first chart shows the dramatic rise over the past year or so in the budget deficits of the three countries on a twelve months moving average basis. [...]

Germany’s HICP and domestic CPI show modest inflation in Germany but headline inflation is still in a steady upward progression. Since the headline rate for the HICP is only 0.7% that is not disturbing at all. The HICP core is not yet [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that job market conditions changed little during December. The latest Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicated that though the job openings rate ticked up to 1.9%, it remained off [...]

Consumer spending has recovered from its post-holiday slump, but real life is not yet apparent. Weekly chain store sales improved last week although the 1.4% w/w rise left purchases up just slightly from the January average. That [...]

A sense of modest improvement returned to small business. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported their January small business optimism index made up the prior two months' declines with an increase to 88.0. [...]