Economy in Brief: October 2010

Momentum previously evident in industrial output growth has been lost. That's again the message from the report on production which fell last month. The decline compared to an expected 0.2% gain, and reversed an unrevised 0.2% August [...]

The U.S. Government's budget deficit decreased in fiscal year 2010, ended September 30, to $1.294 trillion from $1.417 trillion in FY09, according to the annual release of fiscal year budget results published today by the U.S. [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that its October Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions improved to 15.73 which was the highest level since June. The figure suggests positive growth in factory sector [...]

Businesses continued to add inventories in August, and the inventory/sales ratio made it to 1.27, the highest since November 2009. Total stocks were up 0.6% in August, following July's 1.1% gain. This sum of manufacturers, wholesalers [...]

Consumer sentiment is stuck: for a fourth consecutive month, the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment has hovered within a range of 1.1 points and eased just slightly in the latest, mid-October reading to 67.9 from 68.2 [...]

In Europe the trade picture deteriorated even as exports recovered strongly from their slump in July. Goods exports rose by 1% on the month, shaking off a 0.2% decline in July. Imports of goods, a series that had declined by a sharp [...]

Pricing is stuck in the moderate demand and abundant supply environment of the U.S. economy. Consumer prices rose 0.1% last month and failed to meet expectations for a 0.2% rise. The weakness of the increase lowered the y/y change to [...]

The good news is that consumers are spending, but the bad news is that their wallets are hardly open wide. Retail spending rose last month by 0.6% after an upwardly revised 0.7% August increase. The last was slightly higher than [...]