Economy in Brief: March 2006

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the job openings rate, from the Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), was unchanged from a downwardly revised 2.8% in December. The job openings rate is the number of job openings [...]

The US current account deficit surged last quarter to $224.9B from the revised 3Q deficit $185.4B. Last year, the current account deficit of $804.9B jumped $136.9B from 2004 to a new record and equaled 6.4% of GDP. Consensus [...]

Chain store sales inched 0.1% higher last week following a 0.2% gain the prior period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS survey. Because of a 1.5% jump late last month, the latest increase lifted [...]

US retail sales fell 1.3% last month but several factors suggest the decline hardly indicates consumer spending weakness, even though it exceeded Consensus expectations for a 0.8% drop. 1) January's warm weather surge in spending was [...]

US retail sales fell 1.3% last month but several factors suggest the decline hardly indicates consumer spending weakness, even though it exceeded Consensus expectations for a 0.8% drop. 1) January's warm weather surge in spending was [...]

The diffusion index of Consumer confidence in Japan rose sharply in early 2004 and has shown little change up or down since then. However, the index in February, 2006 at 49.8 is the highest level since early 1990. Monthly data on [...]

The Leading Index of the Major 7 OECD economies increased 0.2% in January. For December, the index increased 0.3% but that was revised down from a 0.6% gain reported initially. While the latest increases represent a slight slowdown [...]

The Leading Index of the Major 7 OECD economies increased 0.2% in January. For December, the index increased 0.3% but that was revised down from a 0.6% gain reported initially. While the latest increases represent a slight slowdown [...]