Economy in Brief: 2005

The U.S. federal government budget deficit continued lower during the opening month of FY06. The deficit of $47.2B fell 17.6% versus last October, about the same rate of decline as during FY05. As a percentage of GDP the deficit fell [...]

The U.S. federal government budget deficit continued lower during the opening month of FY06. The deficit of $47.2B fell 17.6% versus last October, about the same rate of decline as during FY05. As a percentage of GDP the deficit fell [...]

The modest 0.2% increase in the September Leading Index of the Major 7 OECD economies marked the fourth consecutive gain and it improved the leaders' six month growth rate to 1.1%, the best in twelve months.The increase reflected [...]

The modest 0.2% increase in the September Leading Index of the Major 7 OECD economies marked the fourth consecutive gain and it improved the leaders' six month growth rate to 1.1%, the best in twelve months.The increase reflected [...]

Several countries reported CPI data today for October.A common feature of all the countries we examined was a tempering of inflation as energy prices backed off their storm-related highs of September. In France and Denmark, the [...]

A 2,000 increase in initial claims for unemployment insurance to 326,000 reversed only a piece of the prior week's revised 6,000 decline. Consensus expectations had been for 323,000 claims. The four-week moving average of initial [...]

The preliminary reading of consumer sentiment in November from the University of Michigan rose 7.7% to 79.9, the highest level in three months. Consensus expectations had been for less of an improvement to 76.8. During the last ten [...]

Import prices fell an expected 0.3% last month following the revised 2.3% spike in September. Petroleum prices were the source of weakness as they reversed more than half of the prior month's gain with a 4.4% drop. Crude oil prices [...]