Economy in Brief: 2012

German manufacturing is beginning to feel the effects of the slowdown in the rest of the Euro Area. Data released today and shown in Haver's GERMANY database show that employment in the manufacturing industry dropped in October to [...]

The National Association for Business Economics held the expectation for real GDP growth next year at 2.1%, the same as in October's survey. However, these are lowered figures versus 2.7% in the May tally. That follows an unrevised [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions was negative for the fifth consecutive month. The December reading of -8.10 was nearly the lowest level of the economic recovery. Consensus expectations had been for m/m [...]

The rebound in industrial sector output from Hurricane Sandy totaled 1.1% (2.5% y/y) last month following a deepened 0.7% October decline, last month reported as -0.4%. The Fed indicated that virtually all of last month's increase in [...]

Consumers continue to see a decline in sellers' pricing power. The consumer price index for November fell 0.3% (+1.8% y/y) following a 0.1% October uptick. A 0.2% decline had been expected. The decline owed to a 4.1% drop (+0.3% y/y) [...]

Business inventories rose a slower 0.4% (5.7% y/y) during October following a 0.6% September rise. Factory inventories ticked up just 0.1% (3.1% y/y). The slower 0.6% gain in merchant wholesalers inventories reflected a 3.1% decline [...]

UK industrial orders as reported by the CBI survey (Confederation of British Industry) are up sharply cutting their negative reading to -12 in December (Merry Christmas!) from -21 in November. This jump still leaves the series weak in [...]