In a widely expected move, the target interest rate for Federal funds was lowered twenty five basis points to 4.25% at today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Voting against the decision was Eric S. Rosengren who [...]
Global| Dec 11 2007Federal Funds Rate Lowered to 4.25%
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 11 2007
U.S. Chain Store Sales Remained Low
Chain store sales in December's first full week held the low level reached at the end of November. A 0.2% uptick was little recovery from the prior week's 2.0% w/w collapse according to the International Council of Shopping Centers [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 11 2007
Small Business Optimism Lowest Since 1993
Small business optimism fell another 1.9% in November after the prior month's 1.1% drop according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The decline was to the lowest level since September 1993. During the last ten [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 11 2007
Federal Funds Rate Lowered to 4.25%
In a widely expected move, the target interest rate for Federal funds was lowered twenty five basis points to 4.25% at today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Voting against the decision was Eric S. Rosengren who [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 10 2007
Real GDP Slowing in Turkey, Estonia and Russia Inflation Moderating in Turkey, but Rising in Estonia and Russia
Third Quarter data on the composition of Gross Domestic Product, in real and nominal terms were released today for Turkey, Estonia and Russia.
The year to year rise in the real seasonally unadjusted data for all three countries has been slowing, as can be seen in the first chart. In Turkey, for example, the real increase in the third quarter was 1.5%, down from 4.0% in the second quarter and 6.8% in the first quarter. In Estonia the deceleration was more modest. The year to year rise in real GDP in the third quarter was 6.4%, down from 7.6% in the second quarter and 10.1% in the first quarter. In Russia, the deceleration has been minimal. In of this year, the increase in real GDP was 7.9%, in the second quarter 7.8% and in the third quarter, 7.7%.
Inflation trends, as measured by the year to year increase in the deflator, have been mixed as can be seen in the second chart. Inflation has been declining in Turkey but rising in Estonia and Russia. Inflation in Turkey, which recently peaked at 9.4% in the second quarter of 2006, is now down to 7.7%. Inflation in Estonia in the third quarter was 9.6%, compared with 9.5% in the second quarter and 8.6%in the first quarter. And in Russia, inflation almost doubled from 7.5% in the first quarter of this year to 13.4% in the third quarter.
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
(Y/Y % Chg)Q3 07 Q2 07 Q1 07 2006 2005 2004 TURKEY Real 1.51 4.05 6.79 6.15 7.36 9.01 Nominal 9.34 12.84 16.06 14.75 12.59 19.09 Deflator 7.71 8.45 8.66 7.93 4.99 9.36 ESTONIA Real 6.38 7.56 10.10 11.19 10.15 8.26 Nominal 16.57 17.77 19.68 18.06 16.99 10.23 Deflator 9.62 9.49 8.65 6.18 6.20 1.82 RUSSIA Real 7.65. 7.77 7.90 6.71 6.37 7.15 Nominal 22.13 20.89 19.97 23.87 26.82 28.23 Deflator 13.45 12.19 7.49 16.09 19.20 19.97 - Global| Dec 10 2007
U.S. Pending Home Sales Ticked Higher, Again
For October, the National Association of Realtors reported that the level of pending home sales ticked 0.6% higher after a modest 1.4% rise during the prior month. The level of sales still is 18.4% below October of last year and 23.0% [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 10 2007
German IP Trends Caught in Cross Currents
German IP edged lower in October in the face of a spurt in orders for the month that was dominated by bulk orders. Still with the -0.3% October result German IP is entering the new quarter on an up note. Q/Q calculations are concerned [...]
- Global| Dec 10 2007
OECD LEIs Are Sagging
The MAIN OECD LEIs (leading economic Indicators, trend adjusted) are dropping at a faster pace over the recent three months. Japan’s drop is the sharpest. The OECD itself pushes emphasis on the 6-month changes in these indexes. On [...]
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