Recent Updates
- Israel: Average Housing Prices (Q2)
- Japan: NCI Economic Activity Index (Aug)
- US: NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (Aug)
- Canada: Wholesale trade, MSIO (June)
- Pakistan: Foreign Currency Deposits and Utilization (JUL)
- 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 November 27, 2007
Frances business climate improved to an index reading of 110 in November from 108 in October. The gain, like the rise in the German IFO index was unexpected. Still the index has moderated as the level reading has flattened out and the percentage gain reading shows a slowdown is still in effect. The climate index sits firmly at the 74th percentile mark of its range. The production trends and likely trend readings are also firm in their ranges in their 59th and 79th range percentiles, respectively. Orders are in about the same relative standing in the 74th percentile of their range and foreign orders are in the 69th percentile of their range..
The bounce in the French and German industrial sentiment gauges in November is curious especially as the euro moves higher and there have been concerns voiced of what a strong euro might do to growth. Still the rises in these two industrial gauges were small and they have not reversed the trends to weaker readings that had been in force. A stronger exchange rate is a good thing in many respects since it increases purchasing power and helps to fight off inflation. But so far in EMU the inflation numbers have stayed troublesome and even gotten worse, at least they have for Germany.
Since Jan 1990 | Since Jan 1990 | |||||||||
Nov-07 | Oct-07 | Sep-07 | Aug-07 | Percentile | Rank | Max | Min | Range | Mean | |
Climate | 110 | 108 | 109 | 109 | 74.0 | 40 | 123 | 73 | 50 | 101 |
Production | ||||||||||
Recent Trend | 3 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 59.8 | 78 | 44 | -58 | 102 | -6 |
Likely trend | 43 | 34 | 32 | 33 | 79.2 | 6 | 63 | -33 | 96 | 7 |
Orders/Demand | ||||||||||
Orders & Demand | 3 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 74.7 | 30 | 25 | -62 | 87 | -15 |
Foreign Orders & Demand | 4 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 69.7 | 51 | 31 | -58 | 89 | -11 |
Prices | ||||||||||
Likely Sales Prices Trend | 9 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 68.1 | 29 | 24 | -23 | 47 | 0 |