Economy in Brief: 2021

• Sales fall for second straight month. • Decline centers in the South. • Median home prices set new record. Sales of new single-family homes declined 5.9% (+9.2% y/y) during May to 769,000 units (SAAR) from 817,000 during April, [...]

• Applications for both purchase and refinance increase. • Rates rise on fixed-rate mortgages, rates ease slightly on adjustable-rate loans. • Average loan size edges down for loans to purchase, increases up for refinance loans. The [...]

• Goods trade deficit widens sharply. • Services trade surplus shrinks to least since 2012. The U.S. current account deficit deepened to $195.7 last quarter from $175.1 billion in Q4'20, revised from $188.5 billion. The Action [...]

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey for the U.K. had another strong showing in June with the net orders reading climbing to +19 from +17 in May. Orders have progressed from averaging -23 over 12 months to averaging -7 [...]

• Existing home sales decline for fourth straight month. • Prices surge to another record high. • Inventory of unsold homes again rose seasonally, but remains low. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of [...]

• Gasoline prices ease minimally from seven-year high. • Crude oil prices add to recent gains. • Natural gas prices continue strengthening. Retail gasoline prices slipped to $3.06 per gallon (+43.7% y/y) in the week ended June 21 from [...]

• Overall activity reading suggests moderate economic growth. • Three of four components are positive. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index increased to 0.29 during May from -0.09 in April, revised from 0.24. [...]

The step-back that refreshes U.K. retail sales fell by 0.8% in May but only after some really explosive gains in March and April as the U.K. economy began to lift restrictions. The chart shows the surge in retail spending. The ‘news’ [...]