Economy in Brief: 2011

In Germany consumer climate crawled a bit higher in an early read on November but has mostly stay around the current level for several months. Climate crested early in the year, it since moved lower and has moved sideways. Economic [...]

It's a story of lost momentum. Chain stores sales fell 0.8% last week and the decline pulled the October average so far 0.6% below September. Sales have now fallen 3.6% below the July peak. During the last ten years there has been a [...]

The distribution of income has become a hot political issue in the United States. Haver Analytics has a number of data bases that may be useful in discussing this issue. A classic measure of equality or inequality in the distribution [...]

The Conference Board's October Index of Consumer Confidence reentered its downtrend. The index fell a sharp 14.2% m/m to 39.8 following a 2.7% September increase, revised from a negligible uptick. The latest figure was the lowest [...]

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index was essentially unchanged during August after 0.1% declines for three straight months. Prices during the last twelve months have fallen 3.8% after rising modestly twelve [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline slipped last week by two cents to $3.46. Prices remained down versus May when they averaged $3.91. Retail prices usually start to ease this time of year with reduced seasonal demand. To [...]

While the heads of state, bankers and economists have been meeting to address the Euro Area's financial crisis, purchasing managers in the manufacturing and service industries have been assessing the repercussions the crisis may be [...]

Though it improved m/m, the Chicago Fed's National Activity Index (CFNAI) for September remained under pressure. The figure rose to -0.22 from -0.59 in August, which was weaker than reported last month. The three-month moving average [...]