Economy in Brief: March 2011

U.S. import prices continue to exhibit broad-based strength. During February, prices jumped another 1.4% after a revised 1.3% January increase, initially reported as 1.5%. The gain was much stronger than Consensus expectations for a [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline increased last week by another nickel to $3.57 per gallon, again the highest since October-2008 and more-than double the December-2008 low of $1.61. Typically, pump prices decline this time of year [...]

While the recent earthquake in Japan in terms of lives lost and property damage, to say nothing of the potential nuclear fallout, exceeds that of the Kobe earthquake of 1995, a look at the economic statistics following that earthquake [...]

Consumers know a bad deal when they see one. They realize that when prices go up, purchasing power goes down. Data from the University of Michigan, contained in Haver's database, paint a compelling picture. The simple relationship, [...]

Business inventories grew further in January, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The January gain was 0.9% and December was revised from 0.8% to 1.1%. Over the last three months, total inventories have expanded at a 10.1% [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the January job openings rate slipped to 2.1% from a downwardly revised 2.2% during December. Nevertheless, these levels remained [...]

Consumers don't like it when they lose money. And the rise in oil prices reduces their spending power. The mid-March reading of consumer sentiment, from the University of Michigan, reflected that concern and declined 12.0% to 68.2 [...]

Total retail and food service sales rose last month by 1.0% following a 0.7% January increase, revised up from 0.3%. Sales have risen for eight consecutive months and the latest increase lifted the y/y increase to 8.9%, the strongest [...]