Economy in Brief: June 2009

Since the peak in 2Q 2007, the net worth of the U.S. household & nonprofit sectors' has fallen by $13.8 trillion, or by nearly one-quarter. The decline to its lowest level since 2004 was led by the rapid shrinkage in asset values, [...]

As worried as they are about the sales environment, businesses have taken the practice of shedding their inventories at the fastest rate in nearly thirty years. Total business inventories fell another 1.1% during April, down for the [...]

Despite the latest increase in overall retail sales, U.S. consumer spending remains constrained by weak job growth and rising gasoline prices. The restraint was evident in a modest, expected 0.5% increase in May retail sales which [...]

At the margin, the labor market continues to show signs of firming ... but just a bit. The latest indication is that last week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell a sharp 24,000 to 601,000 from a little revised 625,000 [...]

At the margin, the labor market continues to show signs of firming ... but just a bit. The latest indication is that last week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell a sharp 24,000 to 601,000 from a little revised 625,000 [...]

In April three of five large EU countries experienced monthly increases in industrial production. We can set Spain aside, to some extent, since its monthly figures are so volatile. Still, Spain and the UK are the only two of this [...]

The ‘what’ of trade in April: The U.S. trade deficit widened modestly in April as exports declined and imports moved lower despite a bump up from oil imports. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased to [...]

The ‘what’ of trade in April: The U.S. trade deficit widened modestly in April as exports declined and imports moved lower despite a bump up from oil imports. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased to [...]