Economy in Brief: March 2010

Poor weather in much of the country likely affected housing market activity during 1Q. The National Association of Home Builders' index of housing market activity fell this month to 15 from 17 in February and for 1Q the index's [...]

The factory sector improved again this month. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that its March Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions held onto its sharp improvement from the series' low twelve months [...]

Cold weather and utility demand were behind much of the gain in overall industrial output last month, but improvement elsewhere remained evident. Industrial production inched 0.1% higher after an unrevised 0.9% January gain and a [...]

Cold weather and utility demand were behind much of the gain in overall industrial output last month, but improvement elsewhere remained evident. Industrial production inched 0.1% higher after an unrevised 0.9% January gain and a [...]

There seems to be no hurry for businesses to accumulate inventories. A modest drop in January inventories followed a December decline that was little-revised. It left the rate of decline just a little less than at the peak rate of [...]

In a shocker of a report EMU IP ratcheted up much more than expected in January and the December reading got a boost due to revision as well. As a result industrial output now is growing 1.5% Yr/Yr in all of EMU. It is the first Yr/Yr [...]

The gain in February sales, while small, was impressive. Retail sales rose 0.3% after a 0.1% January uptick that was revised down from the 0.5% increase reported last month. A 0.2% decline had been expected for February sales. On a [...]

The gain in February sales, while small, was impressive. Retail sales rose 0.3% after a 0.1% January uptick that was revised down from the 0.5% increase reported last month. A 0.2% decline had been expected for February sales. On a [...]