Economy in Brief: December 2011

November was a month of depressed gains for consumer income & outlays. Personal income ticked up just 0.1% following an unrevised 0.4% October increase. The figure disappointed Consensus expectations for a 0.3% rise. A slip in wage & [...]

GDP is slowing across the Euro-Area and globally. The chart at the top shows steady slowdowns in the US the UK and for EMU as Yr/Yr GDP growth rates diminish globally. The table shows the detail on quarterly rates of growth and Yr/Yr [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for December rose to 69.9 from 67.7 at mid-month and from 64.1 in November. The latest number was better than Consensus expectations for 68.0 and it was the fourth consecutive [...]

The Conference Board reported that its Leading Economic Indicators index rose 0.5% during November following an unrevised 0.9% October jump. The gain beat the Consensus forecast for a 0.3% increase. The breadth of increase amongst the [...]

The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell during November to -0.37 from -0.11 in October, which was little-revised. The three-month moving average was unchanged at -0.24, its lowest level since June. The figures have been [...]

Real GDP grew at a revised 1.8% annual rate in Q3 versus the earlier estimate of 2.0% growth. The figure fell short of Consensus expectations for an unrevised 2.0% rate of growth. Nevertheless, growth last quarter remained the [...]

So much for decking the halls with boughs of holly. There will be little fa-la-la-ing as well. UK consumer confidence has sunk to a near 3-yr low and the range and queue metrics we provide as gauges of how bad things really are tell a [...]

The labor market showed more improvement last week. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 364,000 from 368,000 (revised from 366,000) during the prior week. The latest reading was the lowest since May 2008. Expectations [...]