Economy in Brief: June 2021

• Gasoline prices reach seven-year high. • Crude oil prices climb to highest level since October 2018. • Natural gas prices improve further. Retail gasoline prices rose to $3.07 per gallon (46.3% y/y) in the week ended June 14 from [...]

Euro area industrial production rose by 0.8% in April, advancing for the second month in a row. Manufacturing output rose by 0.4% in April gaining also for the second month in a row, but it is still below its level output as of [...]

• Framing lumber prices retreat after extraordinary gains. • Metals prices soften. • Prospects for prices remain good. The Industrial Materials Price Index, from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER), [...]

• Federal government borrows $1.543 trillion, seasonally adjusted annual rate. • Households also borrow more than $1 trillion. Borrowing in U.S. financial markets and institutions was sizable in Q1 2021, but was similar in absolute [...]

• May budget deficit falls short of expectations. • Tax receipts improve with economic growth. • Income-security outlays continue to climb. The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $2.064 trillion for the [...]

In April manufacturing industrial production (IP) grew in eight of thirteen early IP reporters in Europe. IP fell in Germany, France, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway. Output rose in Italy and Spain, the third and fourth largest EMU [...]

• Annual increase is strongest since August 2008. • Core goods & services prices remain strong. • Food prices are firm, but energy prices hold steady. Price inflation at the retail level is firm. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% [...]

• Initial state claims down another 9,000. • Continuing state claims fall to pandemic low. • PUA claims lowest since very first week of program in April 2020. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 9,000 in the week ended June [...]