Economy in Brief: 2004

Industrial production rose just 0.1% following an upwardly revised 0.6% gain in July. Market forecasters had looked for a 0.5% increase but the disappointment was that utility output fell 2.4% and mining output fell 1.1%. Production [...]

Just a week ago, the report of good increases in industrial production and new orders in July suggested a more encouraging outlook for economic activity in Germany. Today's report of the Zew index casts a dampener on this outlook. The [...]

The US current account deficit deepened sharply to$166.2B in 2Q04, a new record. Consensus expectations had been for a 2Q deficit of $159.0B. The deficit in goods trade deteriorated to $163.6B from $135.5B a year ago, driven by the [...]

Home prices as tallied by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) rose 2.2% (9.1% AR) in 2Q 2004 versus an upwardly revised 1Q gain of 1.5%. The OFHEO house price index is a geometric weighted average based on more [...]

Chain store sales again ticked slightly higher last week, up 0.2% w/w according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS. So far in September sales are 0.1% below the August average which was unchanged from July. [...]

The Small Business Optimism Index published by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) fell 2.8% in August. The decline reversed all of the improvement in July and dropped the index to the lowest level since March. The [...]

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey continued to indicate improved hiring intentions in the US for 4Q04. A seasonally adjusted net 20% of 16,000 employers expect to increase hiring activity and that held the improved level of the [...]

Retail sales fell 0.3% last month, about as expected, following a 0.8% gain in July that was little revised. Excluding motor vehicles & parts dealers sales rose 0.2% after a little revised 0.3% gain in July. Consensus expectations had [...]