Economy in Brief

The OECD headline index has been below 100 for six straight months and it had cultivated comparison with the Sherlock Holmes episode in which the dog `did not bark.' The LEIs are watchdogs of a sort and they are supposed to signal a [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level declined 0.5% during February (+0.5% y/y) following a 0.2% January drop, revised from +0.3%. The shortfall reflected a 1.1% decline (+3.7% y/y) in the nondurable goods sector, despite a 1.5% rise [...]

The U.K. shows poor, and many worsening, short-term trends U.K. industrial production fell by 1.1% in February; it is showing sequential declines in output from 12-month to six-month to three-month, but it is not consistently getting [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that the Composite Index of Home Affordability increased 2.2% m/m to 174.9 in February following a 5.4% January gain. Nevertheless, the index remained down 3.5% versus 12-months earlier. [...]

Consumer credit outstanding increased $17.2 billion during February (6.6% y/y) following a $14.9 billion January rise, revised from $10.5 billion. A $14.0 billion increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

While we wring our hands and gnash our teeth about what central banks are doing and the poor state of global growth, let's not forget about the internal dynamics of the EMU or about global risks. It's a very good time NOT to take our [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims fell to 267,000 during the week ended April 2 from an unrevised 276,000 in the prior week. For the past year, claims have been near the lowest level since 1973. Expectations were for 270,000 [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 2.7% last week (3.4% y/y), following three weeks of decline. Refinancing applications jumped 6.8% (-1.9% y/y) after six weeks of sharp [...]