Economy in Brief: April 2014

The amplitude adjusted index for the entire OECD area was flat for the third consecutive month. But flat at a level above 100; growth goes on. The US and UK indices each ticked down on the month. China and Japan were flat. The EMU [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline increased to $3.60 (-0.3% y/y) last week and was at the highest level since early September. Prices remained below the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. Haver Analytics [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index recovered to 93.4 during March and made up most of its February decline to 91.4. Despite the latest increase, small business optimism did [...]

Friday's report on U.S. labor market conditions showed a pickup in payroll employment growth and a stable, but low unemployment rate. Within the detail behind these observations was another sign of job market improvement: the ranks of [...]

Friday's report on U.S. labor market conditions showed a pickup in payroll employment growth and a stable, but low unemployment rate. Within the detail behind these observations was another sign of job market improvement: the ranks of [...]

The Federal Reserve Board reported that consumer credit outstanding increased $16.5 billion during February following an unrevised $13.8 billion January rise. The increase outpaced expectations for a $14.0 billion rise, according to [...]

The chart shows the main elements underlying the improvement in German industrial production. Both capital goods output in the output of intermediate goods are moving up at a brisk pace. Lagging those two sectors is consumer goods [...]

German orders rose by 0.6% in February after the downward revision of January's gain from 1.2% to 0.1%. As a result, orders over three months are rising at just a 3.3% annual rate. That's up from the 1.7% pace over six months but only [...]