Economy in Brief: 2012

The pump price of regular gasoline rose another six cents last week to $3.49 per gallon. Since the low three weeks ago prices have risen 14 cents (4.1%). Haver Analytics' seasonally-adjusted price for regular rose eight cents to $3.28 [...]

May data for world trade and production were released today by the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analyses. (The data are found in the G10 Haver Data Base.) The CPB is part of the Netherland Ministry of Economic Affairs, [...]

The National Activity Index (CFNAI) from the Chicago Federal Reserve improved to -0.15 from a revised -0.48 in May, reported as -0.45 last month. The three-month moving rose to -0.20 but remained near its lowest reading since June of [...]

Mass layoffs in the U.S. during June continued lower. The Labor Department reported this morning that layoffs of 50 or more persons from a single firm slipped by a seasonally adjusted 4.6% (-13.0% y/y) to 1,317 following a 0.6% May [...]

Sales of existing homes fell 5.4% last month to a 4.370 annual rate (4.5% y/y) from an upwardly revised 4.620M during May. Sales of existing single-family homes alone fell 5.1% to 3.900M, up 4.8% y/y. (These data have a longer history [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index ticked up to -12.9 after an unrevised sharp decline last month to -16.6. The figure was the third consecutive monthly negative reading and [...]

It's been hard to find a solid indication of the economy's future, and one of the better series has been waffling. The Leading Economic Indicator index from the Conference Board fell 0.3% last month following a 0.4% May rise, [...]

In all likelihood celebration for the Queen’s Jubilee is responsible for erratic path of sales pushing them up then sending them crashing back to normal levels when the merry-making was over. Even accounting for that there is little [...]