In May inflation The US falls more than expected: the consumer price index fell by 0,3%, the largest contraction in the last three and a half years. Expectations were for a more contained decline of 0,2%. The "core" version, ie without the more volatile components such as food and energy, rose by 0,2%, in line with forecasts. On an annual basis, inflation grew by 1,7% in May, while the core figure by 2,3%.
Growing weekly jobless claims: in the week to June 9 they increased by 6 thousand units to 386 thousand, against the expectations of analysts who expected a drop to 375 thousand units. The previous figure of 377 has been corrected upwards to 380. The moving average of the last four weeks has risen by 3.500 units to 382.
It gets even worse the current account deficit which increased to $137,3 billion in the first quarter of 2012 from $118,7 in the last three months of 2011 (revised downwards from the preliminary estimate of $124,1 billion). The highest level since the fourth quarter of 2012 was reached in the first three months of 2008 (corresponding to 3,6% of GDP). The figure is higher than the expectations of analysts who expected a deficit of 134 billion. In detail, in the first quarter net capital flows were positive by 156,7 billion against 63,4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, also thanks to the lower exposure of American investments abroad. In the 2012 quarter, the balance of Treasury purchases and sales was positive by 34 billion dollars, down from 82,5 billion three months earlier, purchases of equities were positive by 18,7 billion after a negative balance of 17,1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
