Economy in Brief: 2006

Consumer sentiment early this month improved according to the University of Michigan. The preliminary June index rose to 82.4 from a low 79.1 during May but recovered less than half of that month's decline. Consensus expectations had [...]

The US current account deficit narrowed last quarter to $208.7B versus a revised record during 4Q '05 of $223.1B. The deficit during 1Q '06 equaled 6.4% of GDP, about stable with 6.3% for all of last year . Consensus expectations had [...]

The US current account deficit narrowed last quarter to $208.7B versus a revised record during 4Q '05 of $223.1B. The deficit during 1Q '06 equaled 6.4% of GDP, about stable with 6.3% for all of last year . Consensus expectations had [...]

The total number of mortgage applications rose 7.0% last week and recovered most of the prior three weeks' declines. Nevertheless, applications in early June remained 1.4% below the May average which fell 2.2% from April. Applications [...]

Consumer prices (CPI-U) rose 0.4% last month and matched Consensus expectations. The 0.3% rise in prices less food & energy, however, was firmer than expectations for a 0.2% gain. While slight, the upside surprise in the measure of [...]

Consumer prices (CPI-U) rose 0.4% last month and matched Consensus expectations. The 0.3% rise in prices less food & energy, however, was firmer than expectations for a 0.2% gain. While slight, the upside surprise in the measure of [...]

Two recent indicators of confidence in Germany show a mixed picture. Yesterday, the German Chamber of Commerce reported that a June survey of industrialists in some 25,000 companies showed that the balance of those expecting [...]

In May, the U.S. federal government ran a budget deficit of $42.8B that was slightly deeper than the deficit during the same month last year. The FY06 to-date budget deficit nevertheless narrowed to $227.0B versus a deficit of $272.3B [...]