Economy in Brief: February 2017

Regular gasoline prices moved up to $2.31 per gallon (33.8% y/y) last week following a decline to $2.29 per gallon in the prior week. Prices peaked at $2.39 early last month and remained down from a 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index ticked 0.1% higher during January (12.8% y/y) to 105.9 following a 7.5% December surge. It was the strongest level of optimism since [...]

GDP in the EU economy was up at a 1.6% annualized rate in Q4 and up by 1.7% year-on-year. German GDP recovered after a weak Q3 to expand at a 1.7% annualized Q4 pace and is up by 1.8% over four-quarters. The top annualized Q4 growth [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.6% during January (1.6% y/y) after a 0.2% December gain, revised from 0.3%. The rise was the largest since September 2012 and exceeded expectations for a 0.3% increase in the [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.6% during January (1.6% y/y) after a 0.2% December gain, revised from 0.3%. The rise was the largest since September 2012, and exceeded expectations for a 0.3% increase in the [...]

Japan's retail sales are lower by 1.2% month to month in December. However, their sequential rates of growth show an upswing is nonetheless in place from growth rates over 12-Mo to 6-Mo to 3-Mo. This steady expansion of the pace of [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 2.9% during the last four weeks, and has risen 23.9% during the last twelve months. This follows strength [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that during January, the federal government ran a $51.3 billion budget surplus compared to a $55.2 billion surplus in January 2016. A $33.0 billion surplus had been expected in the Action [...]