Economy in Brief

Total borrowing in the U.S. resumed a more normal pace in Q2, according to the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts of the U.S., following a much smaller amount in Q1. Indeed, Q1 net paydowns by the federal government and the [...]

Italy's current account surplus shrank in July as exports and imports both fell. Declining trade flows may get greater scrutiny now that the U.S. Federal Reserve has put its rate hike plans on hold. Judging from market reactions, [...]

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index improved 0.1% during August following no change in July, revised from -0.2%. June's 0.6% increase was unrevised. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had anticipated a 0.2% rise. Three-month [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated that, "Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the [...]

The current account deficit of $109.7 billion in Q2 eased from $118.3 billion in Q1 and compared to $92.0 billion in Q2'14. The data are seasonally adjusted. The deficit in goods trade eased and the services surplus grew The surplus [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for September deteriorated to -6.0 following an unrevised improvement to 8.3 in August. It was the first negative reading since [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 264,000 (-18.0% y/y) during the week ended September 12 from an unrevised 275,000 during the prior week. It was the lowest level of claims since the third week of July. The four week [...]

Housing starts during August eased 3.0% to 1.126 million (AR) from 1.161 million in July, last month reported as 1.206 million. So far this quarter, starts are 1.3% below the Q2 average. The latest figure fell short of expectations [...]