Economy in Brief

Conditions and patterns vary across EMU-somewhat by size The EMU region seems to be a story of `rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.' Both France and Germany have seen their composite PMI gauges rise in May. They are the two [...]

The German PPI (ex-construction) fell by 0.2% in April, returning to its declining ways after a flat performance in March. PPI declines are still in force even as oil prices are rising strongly. Brent rose by 18% in March and by an [...]

Sales of existing homes increased 1.7% (6.0% y/y) to 5.450 million (SAAR) during April from 5.360 million in March, revised from 5.330 million. Sales have been notably volatile m/m during the past year, but the latest reading was just [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index eased during May to -1.8 from an unrevised -1.6 in April. The decline compared to expectations for 3.0 in the Action Economics [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.6% during April (1.9% y/y), following an unrevised 0.2% March gain. It was the largest increase since June, and beat expectations for a 0.3% rise in the [...]

U.K. retail sales snapped back in April, rising by 0.9% after falling by 0.7% in March. However, over three months, sales are still falling at a 2.6% annual rate, a clear deceleration from their steady nominal path of 1.2% or so over [...]

The National Activity Index from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago increased to 0.10 during April, the first positive reading since January. It still suggested, however, that economic growth was slightly below trend. At -0.22, the [...]

Initial unemployment jobless claims fell to 278,000 (+0.7% y/y) during the week ended May 14, and retraced most of the prior week's run-up to an unrevised 294,000. The decline followed three weeks of increase. The Action Economics [...]