Economy in Brief: March 2015

Prices of most internationally traded goods remained weak in February, but petroleum was a notable exception for both imports and exports. Overall import prices rose 0.4% (-9.4% y/y), including an 8.1% surge in petroleum; nonpetroleum [...]

Downward pressure on prices of internationally traded goods is ongoing. Import prices declined 2.8% during January (-8.0% y/y) following a revised 1.9% December fall, earlier reported as -2.5%. It was the largest of seven straight [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 289,000 during the week ended March 7 from 325,000 in the prior week, revised from 320,000. The latest level was the lowest in three weeks. The four-week moving average of initial [...]

EMU industrial output fell in January by a thin 0.1%. Still, the drop was a surprise. Output in manufacturing fell by 0.3%. Overall output is up by 0.2% over the past year while manufacturing output is up by just 0.1% over the past [...]

Severe winter weather may have been a factor last month, but retail spending has been under pressure for a while. Overall retail sales including food services & drinking places fell 0.6% (+1.7% y/y) during February following an [...]

On a day when Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that it would be foolish to cut interest rates to combat low inflation, the U.K. has also produced a sharp weakening in its industrial sector. Manufacturing output is lower [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index edged 1.3% lower last week (+11.3% y/y). Applications are down 26.1% during the last seven weeks. Refinance applications led the way lower with a [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level in January gained 0.3% (6.2% y/y) following little change in December, revised from 0.1%. Durable goods inventories rose 0.6% (7.7% y/y). Electrical equipment inventories were quite strong and [...]