Economy in Brief

Import prices increased 0.5% during April (4.1% y/y) following a 0.1% March uptick, revised from -0.2%. It was the strongest rise in three months. A 0.2% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level rose 0.2% (3.0% y/y) during March following a 0.3% February gain, revised from 0.4%. Durable goods inventories strengthened 0.6% (2.5% y/y) after February's 0.2% rise. Motor vehicle stocks jumped [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate of 3.8% during March equaled February, but remained below July's peak of 4.0%. The private-sector job openings rate held steady at 4.0%, about where it's been [...]

German trade data features the headline balance which shows the surplus having diminished in March and export and import data that show a bit of an import surged juxtaposed to an export weakening. The commodity detail lags by one [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index eased to 104.5 during April from 104.7 in March. The index remained up 11.6% from the level of 93.6 April 2016. A lessened 38% of firms [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) eased 0.6% during the last four weeks, but remained up 12.7% during the last twelve months. This follows strength during [...]

German orders rose by 1% in March on the back of a strong gain in foreign orders. Foreign orders advanced by 4.8% on the month, their strongest gain since March of last year. Foreign orders broke a seesaw pattern of orders in March, [...]

The Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) from the Federal Reserve Board includes 19 indicators of labor market activity, covering the broad categories of unemployment and underemployment. These include jobs, workweeks, wages, [...]