Economy in Brief

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated in its November Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report that the number of job openings fell 6.9% from October and by nearly one third from November 2007. The latest level was the [...]

According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small business optimism fell hard last month. The index level of 85.2 was down 3.0% month-to-month and it followed the slight 0.3% November uptick. The latest was [...]

Regular gasoline prices again moved higher last week. They rose ten cents to an average $1.78 per gallon after the prior week's seven cent gain, according to the U.S. Department of Energy survey. Nevertheless, the price was still down [...]

Japan’s economy watcher’s index falls sharply in December. It is at its weakest point in five years and longer. The employment component is very weak as is the future index. The future index is barley higher than the very weak current [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit narrowed sharply during November as the U.S. recession and lower oil prices combined to reduce imports. The sharp drop to $40.4B from a revised $56.7B during October was much greater than Consensus [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit narrowed sharply during November as the U.S. recession and lower oil prices combined to reduce imports. The sharp drop to $40.4B from a revised $56.7B during October was much greater than Consensus [...]

India is the latest Asian country to report industrial production for November of last year. Contrary to expectations, industrial production in India, rose in November from 261.7 in October to 267.2 (Fiscal year beginning [...]

The outlook for the world's major industrialized and emerging economies worsened markedly in November, according to the monthly OECD Trend adjusted leading indicators. The OECD said the figures point to a "deep slowdown" in the area. [...]