Economy in Brief: April 2017

A number of analysts have been showing this sort of chart recently or aggregating 'hard data' vs. 'soft data' and showing the divergence. Well, let me ask you something. If I cut you a slice of orange, would you expect it to taste [...]

Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.42 per gallon last week (17.2% y/y), up versus $2.18 per gallon during November 2016. Prices remained lower than the 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate of 3.8% during February increased m/m, but remained below July's peak of 4.0%. The private-sector job openings rate improved to 4.1% versus 4.0% during all of [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index fell to 104.7 during March from 105.3 in February, but remained up versus 92.6 in March 2016. Forty-six percent of firms reported they [...]

The Bank of France cut back its outlook for growth to 0.3% in the first quarter from a previous estimate of 0.4%. Its business index in March fell to 102.6 from 103.7 in February. The February index had jumped to that level from [...]

The Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) from the Federal Reserve Board includes 19 indicators of labor market activity, covering the broad categories of unemployment and underemployment. These include jobs, workweeks, wages, [...]

Consumer credit outstanding strengthened $15.2 billion during February following a $10.7 billion January increase, revised from $8.8 billion. A $15.0 billion increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During [...]

German industrial output has put in a better-than-expected February with output rising by 2.2% month-to-month, the same as in January. Overall output is now expanding at a robust 9.1% annualized rate two months into Q1... so much for [...]