Economy in Brief: 2011

Personal income rose 0.1% last month following a revised 0.2% May increase, initially reported as 0.3%. A 0.2% June increase had been expected. The revision was part of the benchmark changes to the GDP accounts reflected in Friday's [...]

EU U-rate is unchanged - The Euro-Area Unemployment Rate remained in June at 9.9% , unchanged from the May reading, according to data released by Eurostat. The Unemployment Rate was 10.2% in June 2010. According to the official [...]

The Japanese motor vehicle industry, which had suffered from supply chain disruptions and power shortage problems following the March earthquake and tsunami disasters is beginning to show progress. Production of motor vehicles fell [...]

The construction sector was not in as dire straights as previously shown, but growth still was negligible. The value of construction spending during June inched up 0.2% following similarly small gains in prior months, when declines [...]

The Institute for Supply Management indicated that its July Composite Index of factory sector activity dropped sharply to 50.9 from an unrevised 55.3 in June. The figure was nearly the lowest since the economic recovery began two [...]

On balance, industrial commodity prices have been moving sideways since the spring. At 174.8, the latest price index reading from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER), which covers industrial [...]

The employment cost index for private industry workers rose 0.8% in Q2 for total compensation versus an unrevised 0.5% Q1 rise. The Q2 increase beat expectations for a 0.5% rise as tallied by Bloomberg. The four-quarter gain of 2.3% [...]

Retail sales (ex-autos) in Germany are gyrating, showing sharp fluctuations in the last two months. While retail sales soared in June vehicle registrations tanked. When retail sales fell in May vehicle registrations fell. There is no [...]