Economy in Brief: 2016

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index fell 0.2% m/m (0.0% y/y) in February after an unexpected 0.1% m/m rise in January. The February reading was spot on expectations from the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The unchanged [...]

Recent improvement in factory sector production has strengthened industrial commodity prices. The industrial price index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 3.7% during the last four [...]

After falling for two straight months, industrial production (IP) suddenly is stronger in the euro area. That by itself is suspicious amid conditions of ongoing struggle. Consumer goods and capital goods output are rising strongly in [...]

Deflation and monetary policy All eyes have been on the ECB and its next move which it executed just yesterday. The ECB rate cut was modest and the step up in asset purchases was a bit more. Broadening its programs and the asset [...]

Import prices declined 0.3% during February (-6.1% y/y) following a 1.0% January decline, revised from -1.1%. A 0.8% decline had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Petroleum import prices fell 4.0% (-38.5% y/y) [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported a $192.6 billion budget deficit during February versus a $192.4 billion deficit twelve months earlier. A $205.5 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During [...]

Total borrowing in the U.S. rebounded in Q4 to $4,014 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to the Financial Accounts of the U.S., which were released today by the Federal Reserve Board. The large total was mainly [...]

Despite the overwhelming competitiveness of the German economy inside the euro area and despite the very weak euro, itself which makes all of the euro area countries very competitive in their trade outside the zone, German exports [...]