Economy in Brief: 2008

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in the July Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the number of job openings fell a revised 2.3% (-17.0% y/y) from June. The drop followed a revised 3.7% June decline which was much [...]

UK industrial output weakness is hardly a surprise after the sharp break posted by the UK’s July PPI. Clearly, weakness is at work and it is having an impact on prices due to its severity. Manufacturing output continues to decline [...]

Germany's seasonally unadjusted current account fell 7.1 billion euros in July from June and 3.4 billion euros from July, 2007. In the GERMANY database, the monthly data on the current account are available only in seasonally [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that the July change in pending sales of existing homes reversed about half of the prior month's increase. The decline of 3.2% was larger than Consensus expectations for a 1.3% drop. These [...]

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, chain store sales ticked down 0.1% last week and reversed the 0.1% uptick during the week prior. As a result, sales began this month 0.1% below the August average after that [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell three cents last week to $3.65 after having been roughly unchanged during the week prior, according to the U.S. Department of Energy survey. The price has fallen by 47 cents, or [...]

Small business optimism, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), recovered last month to the highest level since April. The 3.3% m/m rise to 91.1 made up all of a 1.1% July decline which had pulled the [...]

Small business optimism, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), recovered last month to the highest level since April. The 3.3% m/m rise to 91.1 made up all of a 1.1% July decline which had pulled the [...]