Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Aug-prelim), Import/Export Prices (Jul)
- US: Consumer Sentiment Detail (Aug-prelim)
- US: Vehicle Miles Driven by State (Jun)
- Bulgaria: Agricultural PPI (Q2) Central Bank Survey (Jul)
- Blue Chip: Blue Chip Economic Indicators (Aug)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Robert Brusca September 19, 2007
Euro-zone orders have begun to get choppy with weakness seen in foreign German orders in July and now a M/M drop in Italys foreign orders. AND while some of the MFG surveys are off peak, most industrial readings still stand at good solid levels. This month, despite some volatility the same is true for Italy.
Still, Italys foreign orders are strong, since orders had risen by more in June. The annualized three-month growth rate is 52.7%. Domestic orders that were up by a strong-seeming 1.3% in July are the ones that are slowing over three months with an annualized growth rate of 5.4%. That is still not a weak figure. Overall sales are up at a 14% pace in the three months ending in July.
In the third quarter, these figures imply growth of 26.9% in foreign orders and of 6.2% in domestic orders. Sales in Q3 are up at a 7.7% pace. So far this is a good start. But orders can be volatile. There have been other signs in the Euro area that have pointed to slowing, including MFG survey and orders and industrial production reports of other EU nations. Italys industrial figures at this point, while showing volatility, are not showing weakness.
SAAR ex M/M | Jul-07 | Jun-07 | May-07 | 3-mo SAAR | 6-mo SAAR | 12-mo |
Total | -0.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 20.3% | 19.5% | 7.9% |
Foreign | -3.4% | 9.2% | 5.4% | 52.7% | 34.3% | 19.6% |
Domestic | 1.3% | -1.0% | 1.0.% | 5.4% | 11.8% | 2.2% |
Memo: | ||||||
Sales | 1.2% | -1.9% | 4.1% | 14.0% | 8.0% | 8.3% |
7COLSPAN |