Economy in Brief: March 2009

It is the largest drop in e-Zone IP since records have been kept. Intermediate goods, capital goods and consumer goods output trends are being clobbered. Each sector is worsening sequentially. Each of the countries displayed: Germany, [...]

Recession and lower oil prices worked to sharply shrink the U.S. current account deficit last year. In fact, the 2008 deficit of $673.3 billion was the smallest since 2004. That improvement came despite recessions abroad which limited [...]

Recession and lower oil prices worked to sharply shrink the U.S. current account deficit last year. In fact, the 2008 deficit of $673.3 billion was the smallest since 2004. That improvement came despite recessions abroad which limited [...]

The latest figures from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank indicate that economic contraction continued. During March, the Index of General Business conditions in the manufacturing sector came in at -35.0 versus a reading of -41.3 [...]

The Conference Board reported that the February composite index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4% to a new low for this cycle. The decline followed a 0.1% January increase that was downwardly revised. Six of the ten components [...]

The UK CBI survey for industry shows a new low at -58. Exports also are on a new low despite the weakness in sterling that should aid competitiveness. New orders slipped to -58 in March from -56 in February. The outlook index [...]

The latest figures from the Labor Department continue to indicate extreme weakness in the labor market. Continuing claims for unemployment insurance reached another record. At 5,473,000, the level of continuing claims in the latest [...]

It is the largest drop in e-Zone IP since records have been kept. Intermediate goods, capital goods and consumer goods output trends are being clobbered. Each sector is worsening sequentially. Each of the countries displayed: Germany, [...]