Economy in Brief: 2008

Chain store sales, as reported by the International Council of Shopping Centers, ticked a modest 0.1% last week. The uptick followed like moves during each of the prior three weeks and the level of sales in July is up modestly from [...]

The retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped five cents last week to $4.06 per gallon, according to the U.S. Department of Energy survey. For all grades of gasoline the average price also fell five cents to $4.12 per [...]

The retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped five cents last week to $4.06 per gallon, according to the U.S. Department of Energy survey. For all grades of gasoline the average price also fell five cents to $4.12 per [...]

Five countries, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia, Estonia and Slovenia, reported June data for producer price indexes today.Among the five countries, inflation at the producer level measured by the year-over-year increase in the producer [...]

The composite index of leading economic indicators, reported by the Conference Board, dipped 0.1% during June after a revised 0.2% decline in May. The decline lowered the leaders by 0.9% so far in 2008. The leaders still may not yet [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve Bank indicated that its Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) for June was again negative. The reading of -0.60 was, however, the least negative since January. It left the three-month moving average [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve Bank indicated that its Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) for June was again negative. The reading of -0.60 was, however, the least negative since January. It left the three-month moving average [...]

WEAKNESS!! French and Italian industrial orders fell sharply in May joining the chorus of Euro signals that are screaming ‘weakness!’ For each country both domestic and foreign orders fell sharply. Each country had posted an increase [...]