Economy in Brief: 2015

The Federal Government reported a $192.327 billion budget deficit during February compared to a $193.532 billion deficit during February of 2014. For the first five months of Fiscal Year 2015, however, the deficit deepened to $386.537 [...]

Total business inventories were roughly stable during January (3.4% y/y), the same as they were in December, earlier reported as +0.1%. During the last three months, inventory growth slowed to 0.3% (AR) from its high of 7.6% late in [...]

Prices of most internationally traded goods remained weak in February, but petroleum was a notable exception for both imports and exports. Overall import prices rose 0.4% (-9.4% y/y), including an 8.1% surge in petroleum; nonpetroleum [...]

Downward pressure on prices of internationally traded goods is ongoing. Import prices declined 2.8% during January (-8.0% y/y) following a revised 1.9% December fall, earlier reported as -2.5%. It was the largest of seven straight [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 289,000 during the week ended March 7 from 325,000 in the prior week, revised from 320,000. The latest level was the lowest in three weeks. The four-week moving average of initial [...]

EMU industrial output fell in January by a thin 0.1%. Still, the drop was a surprise. Output in manufacturing fell by 0.3%. Overall output is up by 0.2% over the past year while manufacturing output is up by just 0.1% over the past [...]

Severe winter weather may have been a factor last month, but retail spending has been under pressure for a while. Overall retail sales including food services & drinking places fell 0.6% (+1.7% y/y) during February following an [...]

On a day when Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that it would be foolish to cut interest rates to combat low inflation, the U.K. has also produced a sharp weakening in its industrial sector. Manufacturing output is lower [...]