Economy in Brief

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 1.6% last week (+18.7% y/y) following a 0.4% rise during the week prior. Purchase applications fell 5.8% (+11.5% y/y) after slight [...]

Regular gasoline prices rebounded to $2.24 per gallon last week (-18.3% y/y) after falling 2 cents to $2.22 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices were at the highest level since October. The price [...]

Industrial output increased 0.7% during April (-1.1% y/y) following declines in six of the prior seven months. It was the largest increase since November 2014. A 0.3% rise in output had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Housing starts increased 6.6% (-1.7% y/y) during April to 1.172 million (AR). The gain followed a 9.4% March decline to 1.099 million, revised from 1.089 million. Expectations were for 1.121 million starts in the Action Economics [...]

Are EMU exports and imports the brothers Grim? It's a grim picture that trade has painted in this month's EMU trade report. Yes, for the EMU, the result is `positive' as the trade surplus is getting even larger. At 22.3 billion euros, [...]

The Consumer Price Index strengthened 0.4% (1.1% y/y) during April following an unrevised 0.1% March rise. It was the largest increase since February 2013. The gain matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 3.4% [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo held at 58 during May for the fourth straight month. It remained down from the October high of 65. The NAHB figures are seasonally adjusted. [...]

Japan's retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in March as NSA nominal sales fell sharply. Seasonally adjusted sales are falling fast over three months and six months as well as declining over 12 months. The speed of the [...]