Economy in Brief

Total business inventories increased 0.2% (3.1% y/y) during October following a 0.1% September dip, revised from 0.0%. Total business sales eased 0.1% both m/m and y/y after a 0.4% September decline, revised from -0.2%. The inventory- [...]

Japan's Tankan report has been a closely watched and key indicator of Japan's economy for some time. The manufacturing barometer, which is considered the bellwether of this index, fell to zero in Q4 2019 from 5 in Q3. That drop marks [...]

Import prices rose 0.2% during November (-1.3% year-on-year), following an unrevised 0.5% decline in October. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a 0.1% gain in November. These figures are not seasonally adjusted and do not [...]

Total retail sales increased 0.2% (3.3% y/y) during November following a 0.4% October gain, revised from 0.3%. A 0.5% November rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles & [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped up 49,000 to 252,000 (+18.3% y/y) in the week ended December 7 from an unrevised 203,000 increase in the previous week. This was the largest number of new claims since the week ended [...]

Total borrowing in U.S. financial markets rose to $4,266 billion in Q3 2019 from $2,489 billion in Q2, according to the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts data. The Q3 amount represented 19.8% of GDP, compared to 11.7% of GDP in Q2. [...]

Total borrowing in U.S. financial markets was $2,463 billion in Q2 2019........ The Financial Accounts data are in Haver's FFUNDS database. Associated information is compiled in the Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts produced jointly [...]

As disappointing as this news is, it comes on a day with a more cheerful note. Germany's IFO has declared that the downward spiral in German industry is over and that it now expects stabilization and growth. That is something to look [...]