Economy in Brief: 2011

The UK HICP and RPIX indices rose sharply in February but slowed their pace from January, when the HICP rose by 0.9% and the RPIX rose by a sharp 1.1%. The measure of core inflation lags. But the core rate has been accelerating as the [...]

Sales at chain stores have been roughly unchanged during the last two weeks following the 2.3% jump during the first week of March. Sales for the month so far sales are 2.9% above the February average. During the last ten years there [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline slipped one penny last week to $3.56 per gallon. Nevertheless prices remained near the highest since October, 2008 and more-than-double the December, 2008 low of $1.61. Typically, pump prices [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell during February to 4.880M (AR), from a revised January reading of 5.400M, initially reported at 5.560M. The last was well short of Consensus expectations [...]

The Chicago Fed reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) remained negative last month at -0.04 versus an upwardly revised -0.01 in January, initially reported at -0.16. The index was down sharply since its March '10 peak, [...]

In Europe, Euro-Area trade flows are mostly steady with Yr/Yr growth rates in excess of 20%. The balance of trade had swung back into deficit three months ago and it remains there. Exports and imports each are losing a slight bit of [...]

When income is tight, consumers spend less. When they look for what to cut back on, hardest hit are automobiles, electronics and furniture. And when incomes improve, these items bounce back strongly. That's the message from the table [...]

More strength is evident in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's index of regional factory sector activity. The figure rose to 43.4 from an unrevised 35.9 in February. It was the highest level since January 1984 (no typo). It beat [...]