Economy in Brief: October 2012

The factory sector remained under pressure last month because of slack demand and too many inventories. Industrial production gained a modest 0.4% during September following a 1.4% August decline, last month reported as -1.2%. A 0.3% [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell three cents last week to $3.82. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for usual volatility and the adjusted price rose one penny to $3.86 per gallon, the highest [...]

Consumer prices posted a second consecutive 0.6% rise during September. The gain was roughly in line with expectations for a 0.5% rise. Despite this strength, prices excluding food & energy continued rising just 0.1% (2.0% y/y) for [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions for October continued to suggest lower levels of activity. At -6.16 the figure was improved slightly from September but remained near the lowest level of the economic [...]

During August, business inventories rose 0.6% following a 0.8% July rise. Though the y/y trend gain fell, these latest gains were elevated versus the Q2 average of 0.2%. Behind the quicker increase was a 0.9% rise in merchant [...]

The Federal Government Budget Deficit fell to $1,089B for all of FY'12 from $1,298B in FY'11, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Treasury. In a sign of economic improvement, part of that shrinkage owed to a $75.0B [...]

The consumer remained in a spending mood last month. Retail sales jumped 1.1% following an upwardly revised 1.2% August rise, last month reported as 0.9%. July's 0.7% increase was upwardly revised as well. A 0.8% gain in September [...]

The Federal Government Budget Deficit fell to $1,089B for all of FY'12 from $1,298B in FY'11, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Treasury. In a sign of economic improvement, part of that shrinkage owed to a $75.0B [...]