Economy in Brief: May 2015

Japan's industrial production had a very good start to the quarter; since then it has been all downhill. After rising by 4.1% in January, IP fell by 3.1% in February and fell by 0.8% in March. Still, because of the jackrabbit start of [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 3.09 during May after falling below break-even to -1.19 in April. The figure from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York remained well below the 27.41 peak reached [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 3.09 during May after falling below break-even to -1.19 in April. The figure from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York remained well below the 27.41 peak reached [...]

Overall industrial output fell 0.3% during April (+1.9% y/y) following a revised 0.3% March shortfall, initially reported as -0.6%. A 0.1% slip in production had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Manufacturing [...]

Consumer confidence in Japan, a diffusion index, fell to 41.5 in April from 41.7 in March. The fall itself is not very telling, but it confirms that Japan is really stuck in the doldrums. The confidence index sits in the 48.8 [...]

The overall Final Demand Producer Price Index declined 0.4% during April (-1.3% y/y) following an unrevised 0.2% March increase. It was the fifth decline in the last six months. A 0.2% uptick was expected in the Action Economics [...]

The job market remains firm. In the week ended May 9, initial claims for jobless insurance slipped to 264,000 from an unrevised 265,000, the lowest levels in fifteen years. The four week moving average declined to 271,750. The Action [...]

There is little good news for Japan's consumer sector. The chart shows the damage and volatility transmitted to retail spending as spending boomed ahead of the announced sales tax hike then plunged in its wake. And now even [...]