Economy in Brief: April 2011

The U.S. foreign trade deficit improved during February to $45.8B versus $47.0B in January, revised from $46.3B reported initially. Expectations had been for $44.0B according to Action Economics. Exports fell 1.4% following a 2.6% [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business indicated that its index of small business optimism fell to 91.9 in March from an unrevised 94.5 in February. The latest was the lowest level since October. Deterioration amongst the [...]

France and Italy continue to see their industrial production expand. France is showing more staying power as Italy show signs of slippage in its growth. This is their first real divergence in this cycle. France is showing persistent [...]

Four more countries reported February data for Industrial production data today--India and Malaysia, representing the Far East; and France and Italy, representing the Euro Area. On the basis of the country data it appears that [...]

While the ECB is hiking rates on marginal inflation risks as the BOE is holding back while inflation rages- at least at the PPI level. At the same time the CPI is hardly to be construed as tame as its twelve month pace is 3.3% and its [...]

During February, consumer credit expanded by $6.7B after a revised $4.5B increase during January, initially reported as $4.0B. Credit has risen strongly during the last five months following declines from 2008 through 2010. Non- [...]

Industrial output is advancing smartly in Germany across all three main sectors. The output of consumer goods is finally in gear, rising at a 2.3% annual rate. Intermediate goods output is up at a 16% annual rate. Capital goods the [...]

Another sign of job market improvement was the indication that initial claims for jobless insurance slipped to 382,000 last week from 392,000, which was revised from 388,000. The latest figure roughly matched Consensus expectations [...]