Economy in Brief: May 2012

One again Germany is distancing itself from the pack. Its retail sales are accelerating and its unemployment rate in May has fallen to its lowest rate in two decades. Meanwhile retail sales elsewhere in the Zone are limping and [...]

One again Germany is distancing itself from the pack. Its retail sales are accelerating and its unemployment rate in May has fallen to its lowest rate in two decades. Meanwhile retail sales elsewhere in the Zone are limping and [...]

GDP growth last quarter was more disappointing than initially estimated. Growth was revised down to 1.9% (SAAR) from 2.2% and it was the weakest advance since Q3'11. The figure matched Consensus estimates. The highest expected gain [...]

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that 61,887 job cuts were announced this month, the highest level since September. Job cut announcements rose in the computer, apparel, construction, electronics, [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 383,000 during the week of May 26 compared to 373,000 during the week prior, revised up from 370,000. Consensus expectations were for 369,000 filings. The four-week moving average of [...]

While job growth improved slightly during May, this quarter's rise still is sharply reduced versus Q1. Private sector payrolls rose 133,000 as reported by the payroll processor Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and economic consultants [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications fell 1.3% (+53.0% y/y) last week. Applications to refinance were off 1.5% (+79.9% y/y) while home purchase applications slipped 0.6% (-3.0% y/y), down for the third [...]

Chain store sales fell 0.5% last week (+2.9% y/y), down for the fifth straight week. Sales have fallen 2.4% so far in May following a 3.4% rise in April. During the last ten years there has been a 72% correlation between the y/y [...]