Economy in Brief: September 2016

Regular gasoline prices fell to $2.20 per gallon (-7.3% y/y) last week following an easing to $2.23 during the week prior, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices remained down versus a 2014 high of $3.71 per gallon. Haver [...]

The Zew experts' expectations were dead flat at a net diffusion reading of 0.5 for the second month in row. At a level of 0.5 the expectations index is stronger 75% of the time (lower 25% of the time) and as such indicates [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index declined 0.2% during August to 94.4 following an unrevised 0.1% July uptick. Optimism remained down 5.9% versus its peak in December 2014. [...]

Foreign Demand Sinks as Domestic Demand Revives But Core Orders Stage Turnaround Nailing down Japan's economic trends can be harder than nailing Jell-O to the wall. Japan's orders report has enough convoluted trends to keep us [...]

The National Association for Business Economics held steady its expectation for 2.3% real U.S. economic growth next year. This year's estimate was reduced again, however, to 1.5% from 1.8%, and from 2.6% projected in December. The [...]

There is nothing quite like the day of reckoning. You can skate along with all sorts of beliefs and ideas then one day out of the blue something happens that turns that world upside-down and exposes a whole new heretofore unthought-of [...]

Wholesale sector sales slipped 0.5% m/m (-1.0% y/y) in July following an outsize 1.7% m/m (revised from 1.9% m/m) jump in June. The Action Economics Survey had looked for a 0.2% m/m increase. Nondurable goods sales, which had led the [...]

Consumer credit outstanding picked up in July, increasing $17.7 billion (6.0% y/y) during the month versus an upwardly revised, though still subpar, $14.5 billion (initially $12.3 billion) rise in June. The previously reported May [...]