Economy in Brief: April 2010

Inflation, as measured by the year over year percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, accelerated in France and Germany in March as can be seen in the first chart. Inflation in Germany increased to 1.21% in March, up from 0.47% [...]

Economic recovery continued to do little to bolster small businesses' mood. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported their March small business optimism index fell m/m to 86.8 which the lowest level since July [...]

For March, the U.S. federal budget deficit eased enough to pull the deficit during the first six months of FY'10 to $717.0B versus $781.4B during the first six months of last fiscal year. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the [...]

After falling sharply into last autumn, the U.S. foreign trade deficit has bounced within a narrow range during the last four months. For February, the deficit deepened to $39.7B from a little-revised $37.0B during January. The latest [...]

After falling sharply into last autumn, the U.S. foreign trade deficit has bounced within a narrow range during the last four months. For February, the deficit deepened to $39.7B from a little-revised $37.0B during January. The latest [...]

The Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research indicated that it's premature to call an end to the U.S. recession. Their latest communiqué can be found here. Nevertheless, Haver Analytics has gone [...]

Five countries--Italy, Ireland, India, Kazakhstan and Mexico--reported February data on industrial production today. One, Kazakhstan reported data for March. We have put the various indexes on a common basis, 2003=100, so that growth [...]

History tells us that gains this strong do not continue to accelerate like this for very long. Already the sequential growth rates are showing that the pace of growth is beginning to ebb even though the 12-month rates continue to [...]