Economy in Brief

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 [...]

The HIPC shows German inflation up by 0.1% m/m in July. The German CPI shows it up by 0.3% m/m. The German CPI and HIPC indexes now show marked divergences over three months, six months and 12 months. The sequential inflation [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government so far in FY'17 has run a $566.0 billion budget deficit compared to a $512.0 billion deficit in the first ten months of FY'16. During July alone, the deficit of $42.9 [...]

Both French and Italian IP seem to be on growth paths in the wake of the release of their respective industrial production reports for June. In the case of France, there may be a bit more need to hold your nose when reading through [...]

Initial unemployment insurance applications rose to 244,000 (-9.4% y/y) during the week ended August 5, up from 241,000 during the prior week which was revised from 240,000. The expectations were for 240,000 claims in the Action [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index eased 0.1% during July (+1.9% y/y) after a 0.1% uptick during June. A 0.1% rise in the index had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The PPI excluding food & energy [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level increased 0.7% during June following a 0.6% May rise, revised from 0.4%. Inventories rose a moderate 2.9% y/y. The latest gain was the strongest in six months. Durable goods inventories increased [...]

Housing starts in Canada rose by 4.4% month-to-month and are up for the second month running. The pace of starts is the third strongest in the last two years. Starts, in fact, have not been able to sustain or surpass this pace on a [...]