Economy in Brief: May 2002

The Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell last month by more than had been expected. March was little revised. It was the first decline in the indicators since September. Despite the decline in the leading index, another [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit remained near its deepest level of the last year, as expected. February's deficit was revised slightly deeper due to lowered exports. The trade deficit in 1Q averaged $30.5B versus $27.6B in 4Q. That [...]

Housing starts fell more than expected last month. March starts were little revised though there were small revisions back to last year. Single-family starts fell 2.0% following a 12.0% drop in March, suggesting that warm temperatures [...]

Consumer prices rose about as expected last month. Core inflation rose more than the Consensus expectation for a 0.2% gain. Tobacco prices surged 6.5% (8.8% y/y). Excluding tobacco, the core CPI rose 0.2% for the fifth consecutive [...]

Total retail sales rose more than expected last month due to higher auto sales. March sales were revised down slightly. Excluding autos also rose more than expected but March was revised down slightly. Higher gasoline prices boosted [...]

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for 3Q02 contained an index of net hiring that rose to its highest level since 2Q01. The raw survey results indicated that 27% of firms plan to add employees in 3Q compared to 21% in 2Q. 8% [...]

Finished producer prices fell vs. Consensus expectations for a 0.5% gain. It was the first decline since last December. Core finished goods prices rose an expected 0.1% (-0.2% YTD, AR) Food prices fell a surprising 3.2%, a drop [...]

Prices for imported commodities rose more than expected last month. Consensus estimates were for a 0.5% gain. March figures were little revised. Petroleum import prices repeated the double digit gain of the prior month. So far in May [...]