Economy in Brief: March 2019

Petroleum product prices rose further last week. Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.55 per gallon (-1.9% y/y), up for the sixth straight week from the low of $2.25. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo held steady at 62 during March after increasing to that level in February. The index remained up from the December low of 56, but below the [...]

In the EMU, both import and export gains were modest in January. Imports rose by just 0.3% while exports gained 0.8%, expanding the monthly surplus in January to 17.04 billion euros from 16.02 billion euros in December. The surplus [...]

Industrial production declined 0.6% (+3.8% y/y) during January....... Manufacturing production declined 0.9% (+2.8% y/y) .... Industrial production and capacity data and US Population-Weighted Heating and Cooling Days are included in [...]

Industrial production declined 0.6% (+3.8% y/y) during January....... Manufacturing production declined 0.9% (+2.8% y/y) .... Industrial production and capacity data and US Population-Weighted Heating and Cooling Days are included in [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate increased to 4.8% during January and matched the record high. The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job [...]

Headline: The EMU HICP for February gained 0.1%, the same as in January, after a 0.2% decline in December. These price trends signal that moderation remains the name of the game. Inflation is decelerating from an already modest 1.5% [...]

Industrial production increased a less-than-expected 0.1% (3.5% year-on-year) during February following an upwardly revised 0.4% decline in January (was -0.6%). The Action Economics Survey forecast 0.4% growth in February. [...]