Economy in Brief: 2021

• Industrial production gained 0.7% m/m, with manufacturing output up 0.4%. • Shortage of semiconductors continues to affect vehicle production. • Chemical production rose 3.2%. Industrial production rose 0.7% m/m (16.5% y/y) in [...]

Last year in April the virus plunged Japan's current and future Economy Watchers Indexes to their lows. Both sprang back very strongly and by June they had attained levels that actually both are higher than the April 2021 readings [...]

• Budget deficit exceeds expectations. • Coronavirus-related outlays balloon. • Individual tax receipts strengthen with economic improvement. The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $1.932 trillion for the [...]

IP data and trends in Europe and the EMU remain mixed. While consumer spending data are showing a clear trend to rebound, the output data can’t be said to be there. But they do seem to be on the verge. In the EMU, manufacturing in the [...]

• Monthly increase is highest since June 2009. • Core goods prices surge. • Energy prices ease. Price inflation at the retail level is accelerating as consumer spending strengthens. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.8% (4.2% y/y) during [...]

• Only the second increase in the past ten weeks. • Increase led by rise in applications for refinancing; applications to purchase posted only a small gain. • Mortgage interest rates fell. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage [...]

• TEXT. • TEXT. • TEXT. • Gasoline prices continue to rise prior to the potential effects of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown. • Crude oil prices also continue to rise. • Natural gas prices strengthen. The price of retail gasoline rose [...]

• Job openings increase to another record. • Hiring rate improves slightly. • Layoffs decline while quits stabilize. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that on the last business day of March, the level of job openings rose to a [...]