Menu

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.K. increased 0.6 percent, and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) remained unchanged in May.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™(ETI) increased slightly in June to 100.0, up from May’s revised figure of 99.5. The June figure is up 5.4 percent from a year ago.

Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information, today reports that fuel-efficient vehicle values are likely to fall 15 percent by year-end in response to stabilizing gas prices and a return to normal production levels for Japanese manufacturers, as covered in the company's Blue Book Market Report for July 2011.

The June CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by 0.67 percent through the month, after posting an increase of 0.22 percent in May.

Almost three years after the onset of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, employees still harbor a deep distrust of company management. A new Maritz® Poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in employee satisfaction research, found that despite a slight improvement in business conditions, the American workforce remains less engaged with their employers than they did one year ago. Poor communication, lack of perceived caring, inconsistent behavior, and perceptions of favoritism were cited by respondents as the largest contributors to their lack of trust in senior leaders.

Composite leading indicators (CLIs) designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, point to a slowdown in most major economies for May 2011.

Austria should seize the opportunity provided by its robust, export-led recovery to strengthen reforms and reinforce domestic drivers of economic growth, according to a new OECD report.

In June, the consumer price index went up by 6.4 percent year-on-year. The prices grew by 6.2 percent in cities and 7.0 percent in rural areas. The food prices went up by 14.4 percent while the non-food prices increased by 3.0 percent. The prices of consumer goods went up by 7.4 percent and the prices of services grew by 4.0 percent. In June, the month-on-month change of consumer prices was up by 0.3 percent. Of which, prices in cities went up by 0.2 percent and that in rural areas rose by 0.4 percent. The food prices grew by 0.9 percent while the non-food prices maintained the same as last month. The prices of consumer goods rose by 0.4 percent, and the prices of services showed no change of growth.

In June 2011, the month-on-month producer price indexes for the industrial sector maintained the same level over the previous month, or it was up by 7.1 percent over the same month last year. The month-on-month purchaser price indexes for the industrial sector was 0.2 percent up while the year-on-year growth was 10.5 percent.

Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in June (+18,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in most major private-sector industries changed little over the month. Government employment continued to trend down.