Economy in Brief: July 2012

The Euro Crisis is beginning to affect the German economy which heretofore has seemed immune. Unemployment in Germany has stated to inch up since March of this year. At that time registered unemployment was 2,856 thousand and the [...]

The Conference Board's Index of Consumer Confidence Index for July rose 5.1% m/m to 65.9 from 62.7 in June, initially reported as 62.0. Expectations were for a July reading of 62.0. The latest figure was the highest since April. [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.5% in Q2'12 versus an unrevised 0.4% Q1 rise. The latest increase in total compensation matched expectations as compiled by Bloomberg. The four-quarter gain of 1.8% was [...]

Improvement in housing activity is helping pricing power. The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose another 0.9% (-0.7% y/y) during May. That added to its little-revised 0.7% April rise. The narrower 10 City [...]

Consumers are growing more cautious.Personal income increased 0.5% (3.5% y/y) last month following a revised 0.3% May rise. A 0.4% June gain was expected. Wages and salaries were firm and posted a 0.5% rise (3.5% y/y) after a little- [...]

Measures of confidence in Germany and in the Euro Area, as a whole, were published today. The IFO in Germany showed a decline in the headline series, the Business Climate to 103.3 (2005=100) in July from 105.2 in June. At the same [...]

There's no doubt that GDP growth has been moderate. Data released last week indicated that year-to-year growth of 2.2% ending in Q2'12 was about the same as during all of 2011 (1.8%) and 2010 (2.4%). After past deep recessions, growth [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for July fell to an expected 72.3 compared to 73.2 in June. The mid-month July figure was 72.0. The latest figure was the lowest since December. A lower consumer expectations [...]