Economy in Brief: May 2017

The Consumer Price Index gained 0.2% during April following a 0.3% March decline. The 2.2% y/y increase was down from February's y/y rise of 2.7%. The monthly increase matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

Business sales were unchanged (6.5% y/y) in March from February versus an unrevised 0.2% monthly gain in February. For the major sectors, retail sales edged up 0.1% m/m (4.9% y/y) in March (posting a more solid 0.3% m/m gain when [...]

The manufacturing PMI continues to point to stronger growth while industrial production continues to plod along. Industrial production fell 0.1% m/m in March, the same as February. That hardly seems like what the PMI is referring to. [...]

Total retail sales and spending at restaurants increased 0.4% during April (4.5% y/y) following a 0.1% March gain, revised from -0.2% reported initially. Earlier figures also were revised. It was the strongest gain in three months. A [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped to 236,000 during the week ended May 6 from an unrevised 238,000 in the prior week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had called for 245,000 claims. The four-week [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.5% during April following a 0.1% March dip. Being the strongest gain in three months, it pulled the y/y increase to 2.5%, the firmest since February 2012. The monthly increase [...]

Pattern of vicious cycles hits U.K. IP; is it down for good? Industrial output in the U.K. has fallen for the consecutive third month. Oddly that leaves IP up in the quarter gaining at a 1.4% annual rate. That bit of oddness stems [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that during April, the federal government ran a $182.4 billion budget surplus compared to a $106.5 billion surplus in April 2016. A $170.0 billion surplus had been expected in the Action Economics [...]