Economy in Brief: July 2013

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee today left the Federal funds rate in a range from 0 to 1/4 percent. The Fed funds rate has remained unchanged since late-2008 at its lowest level ever. The discount rate was left at [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers advanced 0.6% (1.9% y/y) in Q2'13, following an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in Q1. The result was stronger than consensus expectations for 0.4%. Q1 and the prior couple of [...]

The rate of new job creation remains positive. The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report showed a 200,000 rise (1.8% y/y) in non-farm private sector jobs this month. That followed revised increases of 198,000 and 141,000 during June [...]

Retail sales in Germany fell unexpectedly in June by 1.2% after gaining 1% in May. With data for the quarter now complete, retail sales ex- autos are rising at a 1.9% annual rate in the second quarter in Germany. Car sales, or [...]

Economic momentum built last quarter. The 1.7% (1.4% y/y) advance in real GDP during Q2'13 was its strongest of the last three quarters. It also outpaced consensus expectations for a 1.0% rise. However, the advance was accompanied by [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $3.65 last week (3.9% y/y) and reversed most of the prior week's gain. Nevertheless, prices remained near the highest price since March. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to [...]

Consumer confidence remains on an uptrend. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 81.4 this month following a downwardly revised May reading of 74.3. Consensus expectations had been for 75.2. During the last ten [...]

The EU index in July rose to 95 from 92.6, a relatively large jump the ranks 20th out of about the last 250 observations; that places it in the top 11% of all monthly changes over that period. Consumer confidence made a particular [...]