Economy in Brief: October 2017

Import prices increased 0.7% during September (2.7% y/y) following an unrevised 0.6% August increase. The September increase compared to a 0.6% rise expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures are not seasonally [...]

Imports continue to grow faster than exports in the EMU which has been the case since late-2016. Yet, the surplus is barely changed from 12 months ago. The greater import (compared to export) growth tends to drive the surplus lower [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 1.7% during the last four weeks and gained 14.3% during the last twelve months. During all of last year, [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions for October rose to 30.2 following its slip to 24.4 during September. The latest level was the highest since September 2014 and continued to indicate expansion in [...]

The British Chamber of Commerce quarterly survey features separate readings on the manufacturing and service sectors. We feature the manufacturing and services data in the table but the chart only the manufacturing data. If I use [...]

The Consumer Price index increased 0.5% (2.2% y/y) during September following a 0.4% August gain. It was the strongest increase since January and compared to expectations for a 0.6% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]

Total business inventories increased 0.7% m/m (3.6% y/y) in August following an upwardly revised 0.3% m/m rise in July. Retail inventories also rose 0.7% m/m (3.7% y/y) in August after having been unchanged in July. Again, motor [...]

Total retail sales and spending at restaurants increased 1.6% (4.1% y/y) during September. That followed a 0.1% August dip and a 0.5% July rise, both of which were revised up slightly versus last month's report. A 1.5% increase had [...]