Economy in Brief

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 1.5% last week (+11.2% y/y), the fifth decline in six weeks. Purchase applications fell 3.7% (11.3% y/y) while applications to refinance [...]

Gasoline prices rose 5 cents last week to an average $2.74 per gallon at the pump (-25.1% y/y), the highest level since early-December, up roughly one-third versus the late-January low of $2.04. Haver Analytics constructs factors [...]

The German ZEW index for May shows a step back in the current index and a sharp drop in expectations. The expectations reading fell by 11.4 points in May, marking it as a drop that has been larger only 13.5% of the time. The current [...]

New home construction is emerging from its winter doldrums. Housing starts during April increased 20.2% to a 1.135 million annual rate (9.2% y/y), the highest point since November 2007. The gain followed an upwardly revised rise to [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo retreated to 54 in May (+20.0% y/y) following unrevised improvement to 56 in April. The index has moved slightly lower since reaching a ten- [...]

Japan's industrial production had a very good start to the quarter; since then it has been all downhill. After rising by 4.1% in January, IP fell by 3.1% in February and fell by 0.8% in March. Still, because of the jackrabbit start of [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 3.09 during May after falling below break-even to -1.19 in April. The figure from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York remained well below the 27.41 peak reached [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions rose to 3.09 during May after falling below break-even to -1.19 in April. The figure from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York remained well below the 27.41 peak reached [...]