Economy in Brief: November 2014

Industrial production slipped 0.1% last month following a 0.8% September increase, revised from 1.0%. Manufacturing sector production rose 0.2% (3.4% y/y) following a 0.2% September rise, last month reported as 0.5%. Despite the [...]

The trade surplus in the European Monetary Union rose to 17.7 billion euros in September from 15.4 billion euros in August. Exports rose 4.2% in September after a 1.4% decline a month earlier. Imports also revived, rising by 3% after [...]

Total business inventories rose 0.3% during September following a 0.1% August gain, revised from 0.2%. Perhaps prompting the accumulation, total business sales were unchanged (4.1% y/y) following a 0.5% August slump, revised slightly [...]

Import prices declined 1.3% (-1.8% y/y) during October after a 0.6% September drop, earlier reported as -0.5%. It was the fourth straight month of decline and matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 6.9% fall [...]

European growth data for the third quarter provided a much-needed upside surprise. The European Monetary Union grew in the third quarter and Germany avoided a second consecutive quarter of decline by rising by 0.3%. Among the EMU [...]

Consumer spending regained buoyancy last month. Overall retail sales, including food services, improved 0.3% during October (4.1% y/y) following an unrevised 0.3% September decline. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action [...]

The Federal Government reported a $121.7 billion budget deficit during October compared to a $90.6 billion during October of last year. For FY 2015, the Congressional Budget Office projects the budget deficit will total $469 billion [...]

The job openings rate during September dipped m/m to 3.3% from its eleven year high of 3.4%. The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings. [...]