Economy in Brief: 2019

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 9,000 in the week ended March 16 to 221,000 from 230,000 the week before, which was revised up slightly from an initially reported 229,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey projected [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously at today's meeting to leave the federal funds rate target in a range between 2.25% and 2.50%. The action was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. It was indicated at the [...]

While conservative central bankers (pardon the redundancy) continue to worry about the prospect for inflation to surge, global inflation reports continue to undershoot these fears. The latest example of this is in Germany where PPI [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index rose 1.6% (1.8% y/y) during the week ending March 15. Applications to purchase a home improved 0.3% (0.6% y/y), while refinance activity strengthened [...]

ZEW survey expectations curled higher this month but continued to stake out very weak readings. The average ZEW expectation change (unweighted) for the seven countries/regions in the table is a rise of 9.6 points. Even so, the average [...]

Manufacturers' orders gained 0.1% (4.2% y/y) during January, the same as in December which was unrevised. The 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Orders for durable goods improved 0.3% (8.4% y/y), [...]

Petroleum product prices rose further last week. Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.55 per gallon (-1.9% y/y), up for the sixth straight week from the low of $2.25. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo held steady at 62 during March after increasing to that level in February. The index remained up from the December low of 56, but below the [...]