Economy in Brief

Concerns about inflation have central banks jumping through hoops. At even the squeak of inflation, central bank policymakers huddle and make plans to become more aggressive. But for every squeak from inflation, recently there has [...]

Import prices increased 0.3% during April (3.3% y/y) after declining 0.2% in March, revised from no change. A 0.5% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures are not seasonally adjusted. A 1.6% [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a record $214.3 billion budget surplus during April 2018. That compared to a $182.4 billion surplus during April 2017. The higher surplus was driven, in part, by [...]

Japan’s economy watchers index, while improving, continues to hover below the neutral reading of 50 with a reading of 49.0 in April. As such, the index continues to indicate contraction. Despite the gain, the economy watchers April [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims were steady w/w at 211,000 (-11.6% y/y) in the week ending May 5. Claims were expected to rise to 219,000 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The four-week moving average declined to 216,000, [...]

Consumer prices increased 0.2% (2.5% y/y) during April following a 0.1% March slip. A 0.3% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The CPI excluding food & energy improved 0.1% (2.1% y/y) after two months [...]

Wholesale trade inventories increased 0.3% (5.8 y/y) during March following a 0.9% February gain, revised from 1.0%. The March rise matched the increase reported in the advance report released on April 26 and also was below market [...]

Manufacturing industrial output among eight early reporting EMU members (plus Sweden and Norway) showed only two declines in the group in March. IP edged lower by 0.1% in the Netherlands and Norway. Everywhere else in the table there [...]