Economy in Brief: April 2021

• Wholesale inventory strength reflects higher oil prices. • Decline in sales helps to raise I/S ratio. Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February following a 1.4% January jump, revised from 1.3%. A 0.5% gain had [...]

• Wholesale inventory strength reflects higher oil prices. • Decline in sales helps to raise I/S ratio. Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February following a 1.4% January jump, revised from 1.3%. A 0.5% gain had [...]

• Core finished goods inflation picks up. • Energy prices surge. • Service price inflation strengthens. The Producer Price Index for final demand jumped 1.0% (4.2% y/y) during March following a 0.5% February improvement. The index has [...]

• Initial claims rise to highest level in three weeks. • Continuing claims ease. • Insured jobless rate remains steady. Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3 from 728,000 during the [...]

The PMI readings for March show improvement again with the JPMorgan Global reading rising to 54.8 in March from 53.2 in February. While the virus stuck over a year ago battering the global economy, creating a sink hole in growth, and [...]

• Exports fall sharply with economic weakness abroad. • Imports decline modestly. • Oil price rise softens import decline. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February following a deepening to $67.8 [...]

• Unexpected jump is strongest in more than three years. • Both nonrevolving & revolving credit usage strengthen. Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February. It was the strongest increase since November 2017. The [...]

• Exports fall sharply with economic weakness abroad. • Imports decline modestly. • Oil price rise softens import decline. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February following a deepening to $67.8 [...]