Economy in Brief: February 2012

Recent increases in consumers' sense of well-being have encouraged them to make more liberal use of credit. Reported late yesterday, consumer credit outstanding jumped another $19.3B during December after an unrevised $20.4B November [...]

The German IG Metall Union announced today that it would seek a 6.5% wage rise for its members for the coming year beginning April 1st. While a 6.5% wage increase seems unrealistic in the face of a slowing economy, it should be noted [...]

Another sign of economic improvement came in today's report that the December job openings rate improved to 2.5%, the recovery's high, after two months of decline. The Bureau of Labor Statistics figures are in its Job Openings & Labor [...]

Chain store sales rose 1.8% last week (3.5% y/y) following a weak post-Christmas selling period. January sales fell 3.3% after a 1.2% December rise. During the last ten years there has been a 72% correlation between the y/y change in [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline rose again, last week to $3.48 per gallon which is up roughly ten cents during the last two weeks. Retail prices usually decline this time of year with reduced seasonal demand. To account for this [...]

Demand for bank loans to business firmed noticeably at the very end of 2012, according to the Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Survey, which was released Monday, February 4. The survey covered 68 domestic banks and 22 U.S. branches [...]

Halifax house price data in the U. K. were released today. Halifax provides data on house prices in index form (1993=00) and in value in pounds both a national and regional base. The national data include prices for new buyers and for [...]

Industrial commodity prices recently have risen with evidence that manufacturing sector activity is strengthening. At 167.6, the latest price index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) was 5.7% [...]