Economy in Brief

Retail sales rose 0.5% last month, somewhat less than the 0.8% Consensus expectation. The previously reported 0.9% gain in November sales was revised up to a 1.2% increase. Sales of nonstore retailers surged 2.1% (9.1% y/y). Motor [...]

Finished producer prices rose 0.3% in December and reversed the prior month's 0.3% decline. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% gain. For 2003 the PPI rose 3.2%, the largest increase since 2000. Core producer prices fell 0.1% [...]

Some months ago in this space, Louise Curley explained how the large Japanese current account was bringing Japan a strong influx of foreign exchange reserves. However, this situation shifted soon after that report appeared. The [...]

US retail sales surged 1.2% in December on the strength of a 4.3% (8.9% y/y) jump in spending on motor vehicles. Consensus expectations had been for a 1.0% gain following the 0.1% rise in November sales which was unrevised. Sales [...]

US retail sales surged 1.2% in December on the strength of a 4.3% (8.9% y/y) jump in spending on motor vehicles. Consensus expectations had been for a 1.0% gain following the 0.1% rise in November sales which was unrevised. Sales [...]

The lackluster performance of the past two years of industrial production in France and in the UK continued in November with declines in both countries. In France, total industrial production declined 0.40% but was 1.21% above [...]

Chain store sales fell 0.4% last week and that followed a 0.1% dip in the opening week of 2004, according to the ICSC-UBS survey. So far in January sales are up 1.9% versus December. During the last five years there has been a 61% [...]

German industrial production rose 1.33% in November after a revised 2.8% rise in October.(Unrevised figure was 2.4%). This is the first time two successive month to month increases were recorded since early 2002. In spite of the [...]