Economy in Brief: 2011

Price inflation held at an elevated rate last month. The overall CPI gained 0.4% following July's 0.5% rise. A 0.2% increase was expected. Despite the August surprise, the three-month gain in prices was a moderate 2.6% (AR), down [...]

Strong rise in Euro-Area output : what’s up with that? Euro-Area IP ramped up sharply in July, a surprising development. Even so the three-month rate of growth is negative. But at -0.2% it is vastly improved from the three-month [...]

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that business inventory growth held steady in July at 0.4%. Business sales increased 0.7% and were slightly stronger than June. With the moderate inventory growth, the inventory/sales ratio [...]

The U.S. producer price index for finished goods was unchanged last month after an unrevised 0.2% July gain. The figure compared to Consensus expectations for a 0.1% slip, according to the Action Economics survey. Like July, the [...]

The consumer continues to pull back the reins on spending.Total retail & food service sales were unchanged last month following a 0.3% July gain, revised down from 0.5%. The August figure fell short of Consensus expectations for a [...]

Small businesses increasingly see growth prospects dim. The National Federation of Independent Business indicated that its August index of small business optimism fell to 88.1 from an unrevised 89.9 in July. The latest was the lowest [...]

Divergent forces tear at the Zone - Weaker oil prices should help salve the over-the-top EMU inflation picture. But the 12% drop in the Euro’s foreign exchange value Vs the dollar form December is not going to help much at all. The [...]

The National Australia Bank's, August survey of the business community, released today, shows that their measure of business confidence, a percent balance between optimists on the outlook and the pessimists, is now -7.7%, compared [...]