Economy in Brief

• Gasoline prices slip. • Crude oil prices rise slightly. • Natural gas prices ease. The price for regular gasoline slipped to $2.19 per gallon (-20.5% y/y) in the week ended July 20 from $2.20 in the previous week. Prices remained [...]

• Prices continue to increase across sectors. • Crude oil prices are strengthening. • Metals rise while lumber prices soar. Improved activity in the factory sector continues to bolster industrial materials prices. A 7.2% jump in June [...]

Japan's trade deficit lingers as trade flows continue to implode and fall at ever faster rates over shorter horizons- from 12-months to six-months to three-months. In June, exports logged only their fourth increase in the last 14 [...]

EMU inflation is weak. Inflation trends are weak and over the past 5 years inflation has been consistently below its targeted pace. That explains why the ECB has engaged in all sorts of policies to try to revive growth and is still [...]

• Home building continues to recover from coronavirus shutdown. • Building permits increase modestly. Low mortgage rates are bolstering new home building activity. Residential housing starts strengthened 17.3% last month (-4.0% y/y) [...]

• Business inventories down 2.3% in May; fifth consecutive monthly decline. • Sales jump 8.4%, but still 12.5% below January peak. • Inventory-to-Sales ratio decreases to a still elevated 1.51. Total business inventories dropped 2.3% [...]

• Housing market activity is improving broadly. • Number of prospective buyers revisits earlier highs. The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo moved up to 72 during July and added [...]

• Business conditions index has notable positive reading for second month. • Component gains somewhat mixed but generally favorable. • However, expectations have lower positive reading. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia [...]