Economy in Brief: 2012

The U.S. current account deficit lessened last quarter to $117.4B from $133.6B in Q1. The easing left the deficit to GDP ratio at 3.0%, roughly the same as in 2011 and 2010. Total exports grew another 1.2% led by a 1.4% (5.9% y/y) [...]

Singapore's exports of goods and services declined 2.43% in August and imports of goods and services were up 4.06% with the result that the favorable balance on trade in goods and services declined from S$4.7 in July to S$2.2 billion [...]

Despite the weakening in factory sector activity, there's recently been broad-based strength in industrial commodity prices. At 169.5, the latest price index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) [...]

Industrial sector activity continues to soften. The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions for September fell to -10.41, its lowest level of the economic recovery. Consensus expectations had been for m/m improvement [...]

Industrial production weak month, still up on quarter IP fell sharply in August ( the Fed had this number in its pocket at the FOMC meeting yesterday) led by a 3.7% drop in utilities output. But MFG alone also fell sharply, dropping [...]

Inflation is remaining moderate. But the weakness in core prices this month may not be as widespread as a 0.1% core rise would have you believe. It is always dodgy to try to judge inflation trends when energy prices are gyrating. The [...]

Retail sales seemed to surge in August even as July's gain was cut back to +0.6% from +0.8%. But reality is a bit grimmer. The retail sales gain ex motor vehicle sales stands up at 0.8% but then if you subtract gas station sales from [...]

The PPI is the most volatile and the least important of the "major" US gauges of inflation. Still it does send a signal and we prefer to look at the components of the PPI that will feed most directly into the CPI since the Fed places [...]