Economy in Brief: 2017

The EU Commission indexes show that the weakening trend in Europe is still in play. The overall EMU index of sentiment eroded to 109.5 in November from 109.7 in October. The pace of decline has slowed. And yet the ranking statistics [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales increased 3.5% (-0.6% y/y) during October to an index level of 109.3 (2001=100). This followed a revised 0.4% September decline, initially reported as no [...]

Japanese retail sales sank in October. Nominal retail sales have dropped month-to-month in four of the last six months and in two of the last three months. There is sequential deterioration in nominal retail sales growth as the three- [...]

Economic growth was revised up to 3.3% (AR, 2.3% y/y) during Q3'17 from an advance estimate of a 3.0% gain. The latest figure was the strongest in three years and equaled expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. After-tax [...]

Retail gasoline prices declined last week to $2.53 per gallon (+17.6% y/y) following a slip to $2.57 in the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. At $2.72 per [...]

The EMU shows some acceleration in credit over the last three months. Private credit shows regular if slow step-ups in credit growth rates. Money supply, however, has slowed slightly compared to its 12-month pace. The real balance [...]

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased 2.6% during November (18.4% y/y) to 129.5 following an upwardly revised 4.6% October improvement. The index was at its highest level since November 2000. The Action Economics [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 6.3% y/y during September. This compared to a peak 7.1% y/y gain in April. During the last three months, prices improved at a 6.1% annual rate. In September [...]