Economy in Brief

For August, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that its Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions was positive and at its highest level in two years. The latest reading of 12.08 compares to sharply negative [...]

Worries about personal finances and the shape of the U.S. economy persisted this month. The University of Michigan's early-August reading of consumer sentiment fell to 63.2 from 66.0 during July and was down for the third consecutive [...]

A consistent indicator of turning points in the U.S. economy has been industrial output. And last month it signaled growth. Industrial output, which includes mining and utilities, rose a greater-than-expected 0.5% during July after an [...]

The EMU HICP fell by a larger than expected 0.7% Yr/Yr. But with France and Germany emerging from recession in yesterday’s GDP reports, markets are not focused on inflation being under control or worried about deflation with the Yr/Yr [...]

Deflation is much too strong a word to describe all of the pieces of the current pricing environment, but it appropriately denotes the CPI total and some of its components. Last month, the CPI matched Consensus expectations and was [...]

Deflation is much too strong a word to describe all of the pieces of the current pricing environment, but it appropriately denotes the CPI total and some of its components. Last month, the CPI matched Consensus expectations and was [...]

Business inventories have continued to fall sharply through June, and at all three levels of distribution, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. Total inventories were off 1.1% in June alone, following 1.2% in May and 1.3% in April. [...]

U.S. import prices last month declined a slightly more-than-expected 0.7%. Prices have fallen sharply since last year due to lower oil prices, the firmer dollar and the global economic recession. The recent gain in petroleum prices [...]