Economy in Brief: July 2015

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 281,000 (-7.2% y/y) during the week ended July 11 from 296,000 during the prior week, revised from 297,000. The decline reversed all of the prior week's gain and may reflect [...]

Overall industrial output increased 0.3% during June (1.5% y/y) following an unrevised 0.2% decline. A 0.2% rise in production had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Manufacturing sector production was unchanged [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions showed modest improvement this month to 3.86 after its decline to -1.98 in June. The latest figure remained, however, well under the 27.41 peak reached last September. The [...]

The overall Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.4% during June (-0.7% y/y) following an unrevised 0.5% May rise. A 0.2% gain was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Prices excluding food & energy also beat [...]

The Netherlands is another case of an EMU country where the trade picture belies the weakness in the euro exchange rate. While exports and imports do not respond wholly to the same set of variables, they are both affected by the [...]

Total business inventories rose 0.3% in May (2.4% y/y) following an unrevised 0.4% gain in April. The consequent 3-month growth was 3.2% (AR), sustaining April's improved pace. Total business sales in May increased 0.4% (-2.2% y/y) [...]

Total business inventories rose 0.3% in May (2.4% y/y) following an unrevised 0.4% gain in April. The consequent 3-month growth was 3.2% (AR), sustaining April's improved pace. Total business sales in May increased 0.4% (-2.2% y/y) [...]

Gasoline prices increased last week to an average $2.83 per gallon at the pump (-22.0% y/y) and remained higher than the low of $2.04 late in January. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump [...]