Economy in Brief: April 2012

Consumers were in a mood to spend last month, on most everything. Retail sales increased 0.8% (6.5% y/y) during March following little- revised gains of 1.0% and 0.7% during the prior two months. The gain exceeded Consensus [...]

Consumer prices rose a moderate and expected 0.3% last month, down from February's unrevised 0.4% gain. The increase left the y/y increase of 2.6% down from its peak of 3.9% six months ago. Prices less food and energy increased 0.2%, [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for mid-April slipped to 75.7 from 76.2 in March. The figure compared to expectations for a rise to 77.0. The reading of current economic conditions fell to 80.6 which was its [...]

Consumer prices rose a moderate and expected 0.3% last month, down from February's unrevised 0.4% gain. The increase left the y/y increase of 2.6% down from its peak of 3.9% six months ago. Prices less food and energy increased 0.2%, [...]

The ECB's monthly report noted that inflation was expected to hover above its limit of 2% in 2012 with 'upside risks prevailing.' Still the ECB regards this as broadly consistent with price stability. A moderate recovery with downside [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 13,000 to 380,000 last week and this figure was the highest level since the end of January. The weekly number compared to Consensus expectations for 355,000 claims. The four-week moving [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit in February declined to $46.0B versus a little-revised $52.5B in January. Expectations were for a deficit of $52.0B. Exports ticked up just 0.1% (9.3% y/y) but imports declined 2.7% (+7.6% y/y). In [...]

The producer price index for finished goods was unchanged during March following an unrevised 0.4% February gain, below expectations for a 0.3% increase. Inflation pressures, however, were still evident as core pricing power [...]