Economy in Brief

Unemployment rates in Europe were largely unchanged in March. The EU and EMU regions both showed no change in their region-wide unemployment gauges. Under the surface, huge differences among national rates of unemployment, of course, [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated that the recent slowdown in economic growth was related to "transitory" factors. Also noted was that labor markets remained "underutilized." It continued to [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes increased 1.1% during March following a 3.6% February jump, last month reported as 3.1%. Expectations were for a 1.0% increase according to [...]

While sentiment in the EU area advanced again in April, in the EMU there was a setback. Of the 16 reporters, six showed declines in their overall sentiment indices as the overall EMU index fell by 0.2%. Eight of these member countries [...]

Real GDP growth of 0.2% (3.0% y/y) last quarter followed an unrevised 2.2% Q4 gain. The increase disappointed expectations for a 1.1% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last quarter's economic performance was its weakest in [...]

Real GDP growth of 0.2% (3.0% y/y) last quarter followed an unrevised 2.2% Q4 gain. The increase disappointed expectations for a 1.1% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last quarter's economic performance was its weakest in [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond reported that its April Composite Index of Manufacturing Sector activity remained negative at -3 following weak readings of -8 and 0 during the prior two months. Expectations were for -2 in the [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index declined 6.1% in April to 95.2 (+16.5% y/y) after rising to 101.4 during March, revised from 101.3. The latest figure was the lowest since December and missed expectations for 102.2 in [...]