Economy in Brief: March 2021

• House prices rose 1.0% m/m, the eighth consecutive monthly increase of 1.0% or more. • Though still elevated, monthly gains seem to be moderating. • Prices were up 12.0% y/y, a series record annual increase dating back to 1991. The [...]

• Gasoline prices reverse earlier rise. • Crude oil prices drop sharply for second straight week. • Natural gas prices rise slightly. The price of regular gasoline eased to $2.85 per gallon (+42.2% y/y) in the week ended March 29 [...]

Japan's retail sales, exports and employment trends continue to move higher and to point higher. But only employment shows a steady acceleration from 12-months to six-months to three-months, growing at successively faster rates on [...]

Consumer confidence in Finland stepped back in March, dropping to a reading of -3 from -0.8 in February. The March reading has a 35.1 percentile standing among data back to 1998 but shows a substantial improvement from one year ago [...]

• New orders growth & employment strengthen. • Prices received & labor costs also rise. • Expectations are little changed, remaining near 2018 high. Manufacturing activity in Texas continued to improve during March. The Texas [...]

Every state is reported to have had positive growth in real GDP in the fourth quarter, but there was a wide range of growth. South Dakota led, with a 9.9 percent rate, while DC trailed all 50 states with a 1.2 percent rate of gain [...]

• Int'l trade deficit sets new record. • Both exports and imports decline. The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to $86.72 billion in February from $84.58 billion in January. An $85.1 billion deficit had been [...]

The IFO indexes moved higher in March. The chart plots the indexes while the table presents sector results and aggregate gauges based on diffusion indexes. The graph shows a very strong gain in business expectations and a solid rise [...]