Economy in Brief: August 2010

Wheat prices, as shown in the first chart, have risen sharply over the past few weeks as the implications of the severe weather conditions in many wheat growing countries for their wheat crop have become clear. (These are daily cash [...]

For the second consecutive month factory inventories fell modestly. The June 0.1% decline was not, however, broad-based. In fact, the decline was limited to petroleum and chemicals where prices fell. Inventories at petroleum [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of existing single-family homes fell again during June. The 2.6% m/m drop left them down roughly one-third versus April. Home buying activity still seems to be [...]

A soft labor market continued last month to exact its toll on income growth. Personal income during June was unchanged after a downwardly revised 0.3% May gain. A 0.2% increase had been expected. Revisions to the last three years' [...]

Yr/Yr the PPI is mostly holding to its gains but the monthly index has gone flat for two months running. Inflation to the extent it percolates anywhere is still present mostly in the intermediate goods sector where commodity prices [...]

The French industrial sector continues to improve despite a weak construction component. The index (2005=100) of Industrial Turnover (sales), excluding construction, declined from a peak of 117.2 in April, 2008 to 100.8 in March of [...]

Construction activity just can't develop forward momentum. Overall, the value of construction-put-in-place inched up just 0.1% during June following a 1.0% May decline that was deeper than initially reported. The June slip was in line [...]

The loss of forward momentum behind the factory sector's recovery is clear, though activity still is expanding. The July Composite Index from the Institute for Supply Management fell to 55.2 from 56.2 in June. The latest figure was [...]