Economy in Brief: March 2010

Producer price inflation eased last month. The finished goods PPI fell 0.6% after its strong 1.4% increase during January. Nevertheless, the 4.6% y/y gain remained nearly the strongest since the autumn of 2008. The February decline [...]

The ZEW March survey of German institutional investors and analysts shows that they are a little more cautious regarding macroeconomic expectations. The excess of optimists over pessimist declined by 0.6 percentage points from 45.1% [...]

Petroleum prices are on the rise with the improved economy. The pump price for regular gasoline rose another four cents last week to $2.79 per gallon which is up by three-quarters since December of 2008. Yesterday, the spot market [...]

Earlier gains in import prices took a breather in February. However, a further increase is likely this month with the rise in oil prices. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that last month import prices slipped 0.3% and roughly [...]

There's plainly no lift beneath the housing market. Housing starts last month fell 5.9% to 575,000 units (AR) and reversed January's upwardly-revised gain. Heavy snowstorms likely were a factor contributing to the decline which fell [...]

There's plainly no lift beneath the housing market. Housing starts last month fell 5.9% to 575,000 units (AR) and reversed January's upwardly-revised gain. Heavy snowstorms likely were a factor contributing to the decline which fell [...]

Rapid recovery from the recession in the emerging countries of the Pacific Rim is putting pressure on consumer and wholesale prices, notably in India and China. Data on inflation for the two countries can be found in Haver Analytics' [...]

Japan with one of the world’s most entrenched recessions produced some absolutely glowing consumer results for January. If Japanese consumers can break out of their doldrums, maybe, -just maybe- there is still hope for Germany and for [...]