Economy in Brief: 2012

Chain store sales nudged up 0.6% last week (2.9% y/y) but barely dented the prior week's 2.5% decline. For September so far sales are 1.2% below August adding to that month's 1.8% decline. During the last ten years there has been a [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for September jumped 14.7% to 70.3 from 61.3 in August, revised up from 60.6. Consensus had been looking for a m/m decline to 63.0. The latest figure was the highest since February. [...]

Since the summer, petroleum prices have been on the rise but lately the momentum eased.The pump price of regular gasoline fell five cents last week to $3.83 per gallon. However, since fall usually brings with it less driving, prices [...]

Housing prices are on the rise throughout the country. The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose 0.4% (1.1% y/y) during July. That added to an unrevised 0.9% June increase. The gain in prices follows last [...]

The German IFO business climate index fell in September to 101.4 (2005=100) from 102.3 in August. It was for the fifth straight month of decline. The climate is determined by current conditions and expectations, both of which [...]

The recession has been revisited. The National Activity Index (CFNAI) from the Chicago Federal Reserve deteriorated to -0.87 during August from a little revised -0.12 in July. The latest reading was the lowest since June 2009, the [...]

The job market continues to show signs of improvement as mass layoffs in the U.S. during August continued lower. The Labor Department reported that layoffs of 50 or more persons from a single firm fell to 1,016, the lowest level in [...]

The EMU FLASH PMI indicators moved in opposite directions in September. This should not be too much of surprise but neither should the results be misconstrued. And there is some danger in that. EMU is not stabilizing as much as it [...]