Economy in Brief: May 2014

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales declined 1.3% (+2.4% y/y) last week, down for the third straight week. So far this month, sales have fallen 1.3% versus April after that [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline held at $3.67 last week (-0.2% y/y) for the third straight week. The price remained down from the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. To account for seasonal volatility, [...]

Industrial commodity prices recently exhibited moderate upward movement. Friday's industrial commodity price index, from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER), was 167.1, up 2.0% since early-February [...]

Overall Japanese machinery orders recovered in March, rising 4% from February's 3.3% drop after an 8.1% gain in January. Core orders (which exclude categories like ships and electric power) made a better recovery, rising 19.1% [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that its Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions for May jumped to 19.01 from 1.29 during April. The latest was the highest level since May 2011 and beat expectations [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo edged lower to 45 this month from 46 in April, revised from 47. The latest figure was the lowest since May of last year and disappointed [...]

Perspective: As we get excited about the return to growth in Europe, or at least hope that it will return to growth after what was a worse-than-expected first-quarter, it's important to look back and think of days gone by. While I [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for May dipped to 15.4 from 16.6 in April. Nevertheless, the latest figure remained nearly the highest since last September and beat consensus [...]