Economy in Brief

Because of the way the calendar flows across the Covid-19 infection cycle, most EMU and most economies in the world show the same patterns for IP and for growth in general over 12 months, six months and three months. Italy and France [...]

• Higher energy prices fuel last month's increase. • Services prices remain unchanged for a second straight month. • Goods price inflation is minimal. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% (1.4% y/y) during January following a 0.2% [...]

• Inventories increased 0.3%, while sales jumped 1.2% in December. • Wholesale inventory-to-sales ratio declined to 1.29. Wholesale inventories grew 0.3% in December (-1.6% year-over-year). Wholesale inventory swings can have a [...]

• Applications for both new purchases and refinancing fell. • Mortgage interest rates generally rose. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index declined 4.1% w/w (+36.4% y/y) in the week ended February 5 after [...]

• • PREVIOUS>>>>>The price of regular gasoline increased to $2.41 per gallon (-1.9% y/y) in the week ended February 1................ These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's [...]

The OECD leading indicators rose by a 'tick' to 99.7 in January from 99.6 in December. November was 99.4; October was 99.3. Clearly the strengthening trend continues, but it is a very mild and possibly fragile trend. The pace of [...]

• Both the job openings rate & the number of openings improve. • Hiring activity weakens. • Layoffs decline as the level of quits increases. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that on the last business day of December, the total [...]

• NFIB Small Business Optimism slips to lowest level since May. • Worries about economic growth & sales persist. • Pricing power improves marginally. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that its Small [...]