Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 216,000 (-13.6% y/y) during the week ended November 10 from 214,000 in the previous week, which was unrevised. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 213,000 claims. The four- [...]

Total retail sales rose 0.8% (4.6% y/y) during October following two months of 0.1% decline, revised from slight increases. A 0.5% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index declined more than expected to 12.9 in November from 22.2 in October. The Action Economics Forecast Survey median was 21.0. These [...]

EMU GDP growth logs a finalized 0.7% annualized quarterly pace in Q3 2018 while its year-over-rate is cut back to a 1.7% gain from Q2's 2.2%. GDP growth in the EMU has steadily decelerated. The table highlights the slowing down of GDP [...]

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% during October (2.5% y/y), the strongest increase in nine months. The increase matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The CPI, excluding food & energy, improved an expected [...]

Gasoline prices declined last week to an average $2.69 per gallon (+3.6% y/y) from $2.75 during the prior week. Prices have fallen from an average high of $2.90 in the last five weeks. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $100.5 billion budget deficit during October, the first month of the new fiscal year. The deficit compared to a shortfall of $63.2 billion during October 2017. A [...]

The average ZEW assessment of economic conditions slid by five points in November. Economic expectations on average were lower by 3.3 points. Inflation expectations were lower by 6.3 points while short- and long-term rate expectations [...]