Economy in Brief: December 2019

Total retail sales increased 0.2% (3.3% y/y) during November following a 0.4% October gain, revised from 0.3%. A 0.5% November rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles & [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped up 49,000 to 252,000 (+18.3% y/y) in the week ended December 7 from an unrevised 203,000 increase in the previous week. This was the largest number of new claims since the week ended [...]

Total borrowing in U.S. financial markets rose to $4,266 billion in Q3 2019 from $2,489 billion in Q2, according to the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts data. The Q3 amount represented 19.8% of GDP, compared to 11.7% of GDP in Q2. [...]

Total borrowing in U.S. financial markets was $2,463 billion in Q2 2019........ The Financial Accounts data are in Haver's FFUNDS database. Associated information is compiled in the Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts produced jointly [...]

As disappointing as this news is, it comes on a day with a more cheerful note. Germany's IFO has declared that the downward spiral in German industry is over and that it now expects stabilization and growth. That is something to look [...]

The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged during November (1.1% y/y) following a 0.4% October rise. A 0.2% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Producer prices excluding food & energy declined [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped up 49,000 to 252,000 (+18.3% y/y) in the week ended December 7 from an unrevised 203,000 in the previous week. This was the largest number of new claims since the week ended September [...]

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