Economy in Brief: April 2009

Businesses worked with a vengeance last quarter to reduce levels of unwanted inventory. The 6.1% (AR) drop in real GDP was about the same as during 4Q '08, but together the back-to-back declines were the worst since early-1958. [...]

The Year-over-year the drop in Japan’s retail sales is worsening. But overall seasonally adjusted sales while down by a sharp 1.1% m/m in March are not accelerating their drop over three months compared to six months. The 5.6% annual [...]

There was some good news for the U.K. in the latest Confederation of Business Industries (CBI) Survey of the Distributive Trades. More respondents reported increases in retail sales over a year ago than those reporting decreases. [...]

Although South Korea's real Gross Domestic Product improved slightly in the first quarter of this year, the economy is still in recession. GDP rose 0.21% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (saar) in the first quarter of 2009, but it [...]

Consumer spending firmed this month. Though chain store sales slipped 0.7% last week, the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Index indicated that on average April sales so far rose 1.4% from the March average [...]

Regular gasoline prices last week averaged $2.05 per gallon, steady with the level reached in late March and up 41 cents from the December low. The figures are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's [...]

Consumers seem to be getting into a better mood which may translate into more spending. The April index of consumer confidence, reported by the Conference Board, improved sharply. Rising to its highest level since November, the [...]

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20 Home Price Composite Index fell 1.9% during February and the decline lowered prices by 18.6% during the last twelve months and by 29.9% since their peak in May 2006. The series dates back only to 2000 and the [...]