Economy in Brief

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 [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that its Small Business Optimism Index slipped to 107.4 during October, down for the second straight month and from August's record high of 108.8. The index level [...]

The OECD area shows barely or below normal growth readings (indexes at or below 100) for all countries and regions in the top of Table 1 since June. Six months ago, three countries or regions had readings at or above 100 (the whole of [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) declined 3.8% during the last four weeks. The price decline has totaled 13.1% since the peak during the middle of June. [...]

French industrial production (IP) fell by 2.1% in September. It is the largest monthly percentage drop since March 2016. France now shows declines in manufacturing IP over 12 months, six months and three months. The annualized [...]

Wholesale inventories increased 0.4% (5.2% y/y) during September following a 0.9% August rise, revised from 1.0%. The September gain compared to a 0.3% rise expected in the Informa Global Markets Survey and a 0.4% increase reported in [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index using new methodology increased 0.6% during October (2.9% y/y) following a 0.2% September gain. It was the largest increase since September 2012. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the [...]