Economy in Brief

As worried as they are about the sales environment, businesses have taken the practice of shedding their inventories at the fastest rate in nearly thirty years. Total business inventories fell another 1.1% during April, down for the [...]

Despite the latest increase in overall retail sales, U.S. consumer spending remains constrained by weak job growth and rising gasoline prices. The restraint was evident in a modest, expected 0.5% increase in May retail sales which [...]

At the margin, the labor market continues to show signs of firming ... but just a bit. The latest indication is that last week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell a sharp 24,000 to 601,000 from a little revised 625,000 [...]

At the margin, the labor market continues to show signs of firming ... but just a bit. The latest indication is that last week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell a sharp 24,000 to 601,000 from a little revised 625,000 [...]

In April three of five large EU countries experienced monthly increases in industrial production. We can set Spain aside, to some extent, since its monthly figures are so volatile. Still, Spain and the UK are the only two of this [...]

The ‘what’ of trade in April: The U.S. trade deficit widened modestly in April as exports declined and imports moved lower despite a bump up from oil imports. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased to [...]

The ‘what’ of trade in April: The U.S. trade deficit widened modestly in April as exports declined and imports moved lower despite a bump up from oil imports. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased to [...]

A diverse group of European countries--Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Malta and Portugal--reported their first quarter GDPs today. Cyprus, the second smallest country in terms of population in the Euro Area, was one of [...]