Economy in Brief

Japan's current account surplus shrinks in July. The terms of trade have turned against Japan over the past year as export prices rose by just 10.2% and import prices rose by 26.3%. Exports and imports have been in a broader slowing [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in the Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the July job openings rate was unchanged from the prior month at 3.0%. Nevertheless, it still was the highest level since January. The [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in the Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the July job openings rate was unchanged from the prior month at 3.0%. Nevertheless, it still was the highest level since January. The [...]

China's trade surplus rose to $24,974 million in August. the second highest on record. The trade surplus with the United States was $15,003 million and that was an all time high. The total surplus and that with the U.S. are shown in [...]

French import growth is persistently outstripping exports. Exports ground to a halt in July as imports rose by 0.7%. Over three months, six months and twelve months, export growth is lagging import growth. Both flows however are [...]

UK trade deficit widens in July as worsening trend stays in place. Trade flows in capital goods and autos are strengthening. But imports are generally holding their lead forcing the deficit deeper into red ink. Export and import flows [...]

Japan sticks with the notion that it is still growing and that orders are generally expanding, but moving more or less sideways. Recent Japan macro data have been touch-and-go. In contrast the July core machinery orders reading is [...]

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS reported that chain store sales rose another 0.3% last week, about the same gain as during the prior three weeks. The average level of chain store sales in the first week of [...]