Economic Highlights
Brent Oil Brent oil prices increased 1.99% or US$1.22, as prices rose this week. Oil traded on December 14, 2017 at a price of $62.44 per barrel relative to US$61.22 last week. Brent oil began the year at US$56.00 per barrel. Petrojam prices 87 Octane prices declined week over week, by 1.07% (JMD$1.30). Additionally 90
Federal Reserve officials followed through on an expected interest-rate increase today citing continued strengthening in the labour market and rising economic activity. “Averaging through hurricane-related fluctuations, job gains have been solid, and the unemployment rate declined further. Household spending has been expanding at a moderate rate, and growth in business fixed investment has picked up
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4% in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, in addition over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.2%. The energy index climbed 3.9% and accounted for approximately three-fourths of the all items increase. The gasoline
The Producer Price Index increased 0.4% in November 2017 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This follows a 0.4% upward movement in both October and September. On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index rose 3.1% for the 12 months ended in November. The final demand index in November rose due to a
Net International Reserves Jamaica’s Net International Reserves totaled US$3,116.22 million as at November 2017, reflecting an increase of US$31.24 million relative to the US$3,084.98 million reported as at the end of September 2017 (see figure 1). Changes in the NIR resulted from an increase in Foreign Assets of US$26.33 million to total US$3,685.59 million compared to
Gross domestic product improved 0.6% in both the euro area (EU19) and the EU28 for the third quarter of 2017 according to an estimated released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. the growth follows a 0.7% increase recorded for the second quarter of 2017 in both areas. The growth within the
Brent Oil Brent oil prices declined by 2.99% (US$1.89), as prices declined this week. Oil traded on December 07, 2017 at a price of 61.22 (US$ barrel) and began the year at US$56.0 per barrel. Petrojam prices 87 Octane prices declined week over week, by 0.29% (US$0.35 ). Additionally 90 Octane declined by 0.28% or
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, advised that the goods and services deficit for October 2017 was $48.7 billion compared to $44.9 billion, up $3.8 billion. Exports for October were $0.1 billion from September to $195.9 billion, while imports were valued at $244.6 billion, up
Industrial producer prices in October 2017 rose 0.4% in the euro area relative to September 2017. The movement was due to a 1.3% climb in the energy sector and a 0.3% growth for intermediate goods. Prices for capital and durable consumer good remained stable, while non-durable goods recorded a 0.2% decline. In the EU28, a
During the period January to September 2017 the trade deficit worsened to US$3,205.3 million, increasing by US$561.4 million or 21.2% relative to US$2,643.9 million for the corresponding period in 2016 based on data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). STATIN highlighted, “Expenditure on imports from the United States of America (Jamaica’s main trading
