Economy in Brief

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity at the company level rose to 37.5, the highest level since June. Nevertheless, the reading remained below the year-ago level for the [...]

Housing starts during September increased 6.0% to 1.206 million (AR) from 1.132 million in August, last month reported as 1.126 million. During all of the third quarter, starts inched 0.5% higher versus Q2. The latest figure surpassed [...]

The EMU trade surplus contracted sharply in August, falling by 2.5 billion euros month-to-month. Still, the surplus is smartly higher year-over-year. Both exports and imports are losing momentum (see chart). In August, exports fell by [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo increased 4.9% to 64 (18.5% y/y) from a downwardly revised September level of 61. It was the highest level since October 2005 and beat [...]

The job openings rate declined to 3.6% during August from July's cycle-high of 3.8%. It nevertheless remained up versus 3.4% one year earlier. The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month [...]

Overall industrial output eased 0.2% during September (+0.4% y/y) following a 0.1% dip in August, last month reported as -0.4%. The latest decline matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Manufacturing sector [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported a $438.9 billion budget deficit during FY2015, narrower than the $483.4 billion deficit in FY2014. It was the smallest deficit since FY2007. As a percent of GDP, the roughly 2.5% was the least [...]

Car registrations in Europe edged lower month-to-month but continue to show solid and strong gains year-over-year across all the countries and aggregates listed in the table. European registrations are up by a strong 9.8% year-on- [...]