Economy in Brief

The Italian consumer confidence index made a large step back in February; since then, it has hovered at a lower plateau. In April, there was slight further erosion to that plateau. While consumer confidence made a slight step lower, [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 4.1% last week (+12.8% y/y) following three consecutive weeks of firm gain. So far in April, applications have risen 6.4% versus March [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity at the company level was roughly unchanged at 17.8 in April versus 17.5 in March. The measure has been declining, however, since [...]

As oil prices gyrate, we continue to see weakness in PPI prices in the EMU and other EU member nations (for now the U.K. is still an EU member nation). However, in March, we do see some evidence of month-to-month PPI increases. [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index during April declined 2.0% (-0.1% y/y) to 94.2 and reversed most of a March increase to 96.1, revised from 96.2. The latest figure compared to 95.8 in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.16 per gallon last week (-15.9% y/y) after rising to $2.14 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The price compares to a low of $1.72 in February, but remained down from [...]

New orders for durable goods increased 0.8% during March (-2.5% y/y) following a 3.1% February decline, revised from -2.8%. A 1.9% improvement had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 2.9% rebound (-4.8% y/y) in [...]

Sales of new single-family homes declined 1.5% during March to 511,000 (SAAR) versus 519,000 in February, revised from 512,000. Despite the decline, sales increased 5.4% y/y. Sales of 520,000 had been expected in the Action Economics [...]