Three Stories: Spain, NY Manufacturing, Inflation

• From the Financial Times: Spain threatened with fresh downgrade

Moody’s ... has said it may downgrade Spanish government bonds because of the country’s likely difficulty in raising large sums of money next year, the problems of its savings banks and the debts incurred by its autonomous regions.
excerpt with permission

This has pushed the yields on Spain 10-year bonds to a new record high of 5.52%.

• From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicates that conditions improved in December for New York State manufacturers. After dropping sharply into negative territory in November, the general business conditions index bounced back above zero, climbing 22 points to 10.6. The new orders and shipments indexes also rose above zero, while the unfilled orders index remained negative. The inventories index was negative, indicating that inventory levels were lower over the month. The indexes for both prices paid and prices received were positive and higher than last month, suggesting that prices rose, while employment indexes were negative, indicating that employment declined.

This was the one regional survey that indicated contraction in November.

• From the BLS: Consumer Price Index increased 0.1 percent in November

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.
...
The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in November [Core CPI], its first increase since July. The index for shelter rose 0.1 percent in November, the same increase as the previous month. The rent index rose 0.2 percent, its largest increase since March 2009, while the index for owners' equivalent rent rose 0.1 percent ...