Economy in Brief

Total business inventories increased 0.5% in June (2.8% y/y), the strongest increase since November. Retail inventories gained 0.6% (3.3% y/y), the same strong rate as in May. Motor vehicle & parts inventories jumped 0.7% (7.4% y/y). [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions for August jumped 15.4 points from July. The latest level of 25.2 was the highest since September 2014, and continued to indicate expansion in factory sector [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo increased 6.3% to 68 during August and made up most of the prior two months' declines. Despite uneven m/m performance this year, the index [...]

After two consecutive monthly declines, import prices edged up 0.1% m/m (1.5% y/y) in July. They had fallen 0.2% m/m in June and 0.1% m/m in May. The July increase was exactly in line with the Action Economics Forecast Survey, which [...]

The consumer rediscovered the spending spirit last month. Total retail sales and spending at restaurants increased 0.6% (3.6% y/y) during July following a 0.3% June rise, revised from -0.2%. It was the largest increase this year. A [...]

Euro area industrial production fell in June, marking its first decline since February. Output fell by 0.6%, unwinding about half of its May gain of 1.2%. There were monthly declines in a three major sectors as well as in both [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 3.2% during the last four weeks and gained 11.0% during the last twelve months. This adds to the strength [...]

The Consumer Price Index ticked 0.1% higher (1.7% y/y) during July following no change in June. A 0.2% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Prices excluding food & energy gained 0.1% (1.7% y/y) for the [...]