Economy in Brief: 2006

Small business optimism in August reversed all of the prior month's uptick and fell 2.2%, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). At 95.9 the index was at its lowest level since March of 2003. During the [...]

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS survey reported that chain store sales slipped 0.3% last week and reversed the prior period's gain. Despite the backpedal, the average level of sales in September is up 0.5% [...]

Higher oil prices helped boost the U.S. foreign trade deficit to a new record in July of $68.0B from an unrevised $64.8 B in June. Consensus expectations had been for a somewhat shallower deficit of $65.5B. Imports of goods & services [...]

Higher oil prices helped boost the U.S. foreign trade deficit to a new record in July of $68.0B from an unrevised $64.8 B in June. Consensus expectations had been for a somewhat shallower deficit of $65.5B. Imports of goods & services [...]

Instead of expectations of a modest decline in July, private machinery orders excluding ships and utilities (Headline Series) in Japan fell by 16.7% from June. This was the largest drop in this volatile series over the past five and [...]

The Leading Index of the major 7 OECD economies fell 0.3% in July for the second consecutive month and it was the third monthly decline in a row. The index's six month growth rate dropped to 0.8%, the lowest in a year. During the last [...]

The Leading Index of the major 7 OECD economies fell 0.3% in July for the second consecutive month and it was the third monthly decline in a row. The index's six month growth rate dropped to 0.8%, the lowest in a year. During the last [...]

We hear so much about the development of industry in various Asian nations that it's sometimes easy to think that industry elsewhere is shriveling up and fading away. This is hardly the case, as a quick look at new production data for [...]