Economy in Brief: April 2009

Weak job markets continue to hold down the increase in labor compensation. For private industry workers, the employment cost index increased by 0.2% last quarter which was less than half the 4Q gain. The gain fell well short of [...]

Any recovery in consumer spending will have to wait. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending during March fell another 0.2% and adjusted for inflation spending also fell 0.2%. These declines followed two [...]

There is actually a bounce in output in Japan this month as over MFG output rose by 1.6% in March. That bounce reduced the annual rate of decline of Japan’s output to a pace of -53.1% over three-months. So while the monthly gain seems [...]

In what may be a sign that the worse for the U.S. job market has passed, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell last week and they have moved slightly lower since the March high. Claims fell to 631,000 from a little revised [...]

Any recovery in consumer spending will have to wait. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending during March fell another 0.2% and adjusted for inflation spending also fell 0.2%. These declines followed two [...]

As evidence that the mortgage refinancing boom has lost steam, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications fell sharply for the second week in the last three. The 18.1% decline last week lowered applications [...]

In an anticipated move the Federal Open Market Committee today left the Federal funds rate in a "range from 0 to 1/4 percent." The discount also was left unchanged at 0.50%. The Fed funds rate remained the lowest ever. The decision [...]

Businesses worked with a vengeance last quarter to reduce levels of unwanted inventory. The 6.1% (AR) drop in real GDP was about the same as during 4Q '08, but together the back-to-back declines were the worst since early-1958. [...]