Category Archives: Economic Alert
Italian Elections officially Result in Chaos
The Italian elections have resulted in no clear winner and several losers. Most importantly, the already-precarious political credibility of the country appears to be lost, too. Prime Minister Mario Monti’s commitment to austerity and structural reform has been rejected by the voters; he won only 10% of the votes. The center-left coalition, led by Mr. [...]
Higher Fuel Prices Boost Import/Export Prices
Import prices jumped 0.6% in January after dropping sharply during the last two months of 2012. A large jump in fuel prices accounted for much of that gain. Non-fuel import prices edged up a much-more-modest 0.2% after declining during the previous two months. Vehicle prices were up, as promotions to boost end-of-year sales were rolled [...]
Retail Sales Tepid in January
Retail sales rose a tepid 0.1% in January, as declines in vehicle and furniture sales offset increases elsewhere. Much of the strength in retail spending at the end of 2012 was concentrated in vehicles and big-ticket items as victims of Superstorm Sandy began the process of repairing and replacing damaged cars, furniture and appliances. Spending [...]
Business Investment Flat, though Aircraft Boost Durable Goods Orders
Orders for durable goods rose 9.9% in September after tumbling 13.1% in August. The reason behind this large swing was aircraft orders; big-ticket items add a lot of volatility to monthly readings. Despite the headline number, which was better than expected, there is some reason for disappointment in the report. Orders for non-defense capital goods [...]
Industrial Production and Housing Starts Improve
Industrial production rose by a stronger-than-expected 1.1% in April, with most components of the index showing gains. In particular, durable consumer goods turned in a good performance, while automotive products, in particular, increased 2.4% for the month. Production of business equipment rose 1.5%, offering hope that we may soon see acceleration in the lackluster pace [...]
European Elections Weaken Markets, but Strengthen Europe
After initially shrugging off the headlines, markets are showing some concern over election news from Europe. We see today major setbacks in most European equity markets and the euro, resulting in a new flight to safety to U.S. Treasury bonds that is driving down American long-term yields to very low levels (1.83% on the 10-year, [...]
Greece: No End to the Disappointment
The painful, protracted, never-ending Greek drama has already done plenty of economic and financial damage to Greece and Europe; it may be about to escalate into a new, unpredictable level of political damage. It was ill-advised for a German minister to suggest that a Greek election should be postponed and that instead, a caretaker government [...]
Bloomberg asks Diane Swonk to explain Fed concern over unemployment
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