Economy in Brief: July 2020

• Monthly budget deficit pulls fiscal YTD deficit to $2.744 trillion. • Receipts weaken sharply while outlays surge. The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran an $864.1 billion budget deficit last month, [...]

• Price index less food & energy eases as the coronavirus curbs demand. • Core goods prices inch higher. • Service price decline led by trade services. Pricing power remains weak in the industrial sector. The Producer Price Index for [...]

French IP rose by 22.0% in May while Italian IP gained 47.3% on the month. Both of those results, in isolation, are stunning numbers. But after the dust and smoke and mirrors of the rebound are carried away, IP in France is still [...]

• Housing affordability decreased in May from a four-year high in April. • Falling incomes offset record low mortgage interest rates. The National Association of Realtors reported that its Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability [...]

German exports gained sharply in May but not quite as sharply as expected, rising by 9.0% month-to-month. Despite that surge, exports are still declining at accelerating rates from 12-months to six-months to three-months. Imports also [...]

• Wholesale inventory decline is broad-based. • Sales spike is notable in durables sector • Inventory to sales ratio remains elevated. Wholesale inventories fell 1.2% (-4.2% y/y) as durable goods inventories slid 2.0% (-5.1% y/y). The [...]

• State initial jobless claims fell to 1.314 million last week. • New applications for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance rose to 1.039 million. • Continuing claims for jobless insurance and the insured jobless rate eased. [...]

• Reduced credit card usage leads the falloff. Consumer's are pulling back as unemployment rises. Consumer credit outstanding fell $18.3 billion (+0.8% y/y) during May following a $70.2 billion April decline, revised from $-68.8 [...]