Economy in Brief

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index edged down 0.1% for the second consecutive month in January (+2.0% year-on-year). December's reading was revised up from -0.2%. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected an increase [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $13.5 billion budget deficit during December 2018. The deficit compared to a shortfall of $23.2 billion during December 2017. The Action Economics Forecast Survey [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index fell 3.7% (-10.9% y/y) during the week ended February 8, about the same as it did during the prior three weeks. These declines followed sharp [...]

The Consumer Price Index remained unchanged during January for the third consecutive month. The December figure was revised from -0.1%. Expectations had been for a 0.1% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The 1.6% y/y [...]

50 shades of weakness EMU industrial production (excluding construction, the headline series) fell hard in December, harder than expected. The December month-to-month IP drop was less than in November, but after a puny gain in October [...]

These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate increased to 4.7% during December and matched the record high. The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job [...]

Retail sales in the EMU have fallen on hard times in December. EMU retail sales volumes fell by 1.6%, more than swamping the November gain and offsetting the gains for October and November together leaving the three-month growth rate [...]