Economy in Brief: February 2011

Consumer price inflation has been under control of late with both the overall CPI (1.4%) and the core inflation rate (0.6%) at their lowest since the mid-1960s. A popular harbinger of inflation, however, is the price of gold and it is [...]

The improved job market coupled with low prices seem to be buoying consumers' spirits. The mid-February reading of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan rose to 75.1 and more-than recovered its January decline to an [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit deepened during December to $40.6B versus a little-revised $38.3B in November $38.3B. Consensus expectations had been for $40.0B. For the full year, the deficit deepened to $497.8B. Exports gained 1.8% [...]

Germany's inflation trends are on a clear upward path. Yr/Yr the headline rate is now on the cusp of excess at 1.9%. The Bundesbank used to put 2% as the upper bound for inflation when it held the reins. Now the ECB maintains that [...]

The larger Euro-Area economies and the UK show mixed results for December. While growth rates swooned over six months three-month growth rates for IP are back to where they were for yr/yr growth for the large economies - except for [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply last week to 383,000, the lowest level since October 2008. The prior week's level was revised up slightly to 419,000 from 415,000. The decline was greater than expectations for [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that overall mortgage applications fell 5.5% last week and reversed the prior week's increase. The decline left applications near the lowest level since 2008. Applications to refinance a [...]

The German trade surplus rose this month and has been moving erratically higher. In December exports grew by 0.5% as imports fell by 2.3% enlarging the surplus gap. But that has not been the general story. Over 12-months imports have [...]