Good news from overseas. In February, the producer price index - prices paid for finished goods - in the United States increased by 0,4%: the fastest pace in the last 5 months, mainly due to oil prices, after the 0,1% recorded in January. But the increase is less than what analysts expected, which predicted a rise of 0,5%. The core data, which excludes the prices of food and energy, increased by 0,2% (in line with expectations) against 0,4% in January, while compared to February 2011 the increase is 3% . This was announced by the US Department of Labor.
In particular the Gasoline prices increased by 4,3% in February, while the prices of all energy goods grew by 1,3%. On the other hand, the prices of the food goods (-0,1%).
on the side ofmanufacturing industry the United States scores another point. For the fourth time in a row it improvesMarch's Empire State Index climbed to 20,2 points from 19,5 of the previous month. The index elaborated by the Federal Reserve of New York, being positive, indicates that most of the manufacturing companies report improvements in conditions. Orders are also growing. Positive signals from the component relating to the orders, with index a 9,73 points from 6,84 of the previous month.
In the face of the European debt crisis, the United States remains the safe haven. Capital invested in long-term treasuries increased to $101 billion in January, the highest level since August 2010. The Treasury Department announced that the figure has more than quintupled compared to December thanks to the massive influx of new foreign investors. Foreign purchases amounted to 84,4 billion dollars and net flows reached 18,8 billion.
