U.S. home prices fell 6.8 percent in April from a year earlier as rising unemployment and record foreclosures kept buyers out of the market.

Measured monthly, the average price fell 0.1 percent from March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said today. The number was projected to drop 0.4 percent in April, according to the median forecast of 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
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Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fell in April, dropping for the first time in four months, on fewer purchases of automobiles.

Sales declined 0.8 percent to C$33.5 billion ($29.8 billion), Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists expected a 0.1 percent increase in April, based on the median of 21 estimates.

The report adds to evidence the world’s eighth-largest economy continued to shrink in the second quarter in the face of a global slump that has sapped orders for Canada’s lumber, automobiles and metals. Canada posted an unexpected trade deficit in April as exports fell, Statistics Canada said June 10. Read more…

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region contracted in June at the slowest pace in nine months as measures of orders and sales improved.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index climbed to minus 2.2, higher than anticipated, from minus 22.6 in May, the bank said today. Negative numbers signal contraction.

The slump in manufacturing may abate after companies reduced inventories in the first quarter at the fastest pace on record. Still, production cutbacks and plant closures at carmakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC are likely to depress factory production near term. Read more…

The Swiss government cut its 2009 economic forecast for a second time this year after the worst global recession in more than six decades eroded exports.

Swiss gross domestic product may drop 2.7 percent this year and 0.4 percent in 2010, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said. That’s the worst contraction since at least 1975. In March, the government projected the economy to shrink 2.2 percent this year and expand 0.1 percent in 2010. Read more…

The US dollar showed weakness against its major counterparts following the release of some major economic data during New York morning deals on Tuesday. Read more…

Economic conditions for NY manufacturers have worsened in May, as the NY Fed manufacturing Index dropped to a reading of -9.41 from -4.55 in April. The Dollar has remained little moved by manufacturing figures.

New orders Index remained in the negative side; -8.15 in May from -9.01 in April, while the index of employment improved slightly, although at very low levels; -21.84 from -23.86. Read more about the NY Fed Manufacturing Index…

The U.S. economy shows signs of improvement but some fundamentals remain weak, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in its periodic “Beige Book” report.

Some of the basics of a flowing economy remain sluggish the Fed said. Overall, credit conditions remain “stringent” and in some of the 12 Federal Reserve regions credit “tightened further,” the Fed said Wednesday.

The report, which covers mid-April through May, said Main Street remains wary “as consumers focused on purchasing less expensive items and shied away from buying luxury goods.” Read more about the Beige Book…

Japan’s wholesale prices fell at the fastest pace in more than 22 years in May, adding to signs that deflation may take root in the world’s second-largest economy.

Producer prices, the costs companies pay for energy and raw materials, tumbled 5.4 percent from a year earlier, the biggest slide since March 1987, the Bank of Japan said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 5.1 percent decline.  Read more about Japan’s economy…

DUBLIN—-Research and Markets has announced the addition of Supplier Relations US, LLC’s new report “Agricultural Implement Manufacturing Industry in the U.S. and its Foreign Trade [2009 Edition ]” to their offering.

As Michigan has begun the process of reemphasizing its manufacturing base with a focus beyond the automotive sector, two local companies are in the process of launching a wind-turbine component manufacturing venture that could advance the industry’s technology.

While job losses slowed in most sectors, manufacturing lost more jobs in May than in April. The outlook for the sector and its workers is dark

Newsprint demand will decline by 56% between 2008 and 2020, while volumes for business papers and print will also fall by 45.5%, according to a new report.

Signs from the labor market suggest the recessionary winds are abating, but this week will bring clues to whether consumers are sufficiently past the point of economic panic to spend more.

One indication will come Friday, when the University of Michigan posts its monthly reading of consumer sentiment. The index reached an eight-month high in May, posting large gains two months in a row. “I think what will be most interesting for this indicator is, Do we continue to extend the gains or do we flatten out?” said Joshua Shapiro, the chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc.

But a better mood hasn’t been matched by stronger sales at the nation’s cash registers.  Read more about the economy…

(RTTNews) – Private sector employment experienced another notable decline in the month of May, according to a report released by Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) on Wednesday, with the decrease in jobs slightly exceeding economist estimates.

The index that gauges the pace of Inland Southern California’s manufacturing sector took an unexpected jump in May, suggesting that factories in the area are ratcheting up production for the first time in 13 months.

There were signs of improvement at the nation’s manufacturing firms even as activity at the plants continued to slow in May, according to a closely followed survey of top executives.

The report was issued today by Norbert J. Ore, CPSM, C.P.M., chair of the Institute for Supply Management™ Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in May for the 16th consecutive month but at a slower pace, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Monday. The Tempe, Arizona-based trade group said its manufacturing index, which reflects the opinions of purchasing managers at factories, plants and utilities, registered 42.8 last month, slightly better than the 40.1 …

Economists expect an index measuring the manufacturing sector’s health to have contracted at a slower pace in May than in the previous month.

Kampala — THE manufacturing sector is the leading employer in Uganda, with the number of jobs created increasing steadily over the last 12 years. According to a report from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), investors in the manufacturing sector had planned employment of 2,894 people in 1998.