Economy in Brief

The job market remains on a firm footing as evidenced by initial claims for unemployment insurance. Except for a brief period this winter, they have been hovering below 300,000 since August. Initial claims in the week ended April 18 [...]

Following a tough winter, sales of existing homes surged 6.1% (13.5% y/y) to 5.190 million (AR). It was the highest level of sales since September 2013 and followed a little-revised 1.5% February rise. Sales exceeded consensus [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) increased 0.7% during February (5.4% y/y) following an unrevised 0.3% January rise. The three-month gain in prices remained stable at 7.3%, up from 3.3% in [...]

Italian retail sales continue to make some progress but are still falling year-over-year. The chart makes it clear that advances in confidence have preceded improvements in retail sales. And Italian consumer confidence is on a roll [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 2.3% last week (28.6% y/y) and made up the prior week's decline. Purchase applications jumped 5.0% (15.6% y/y) to the highest level since [...]

The ZEW expectations index was set back unexpectedly in April as it backtracked to 53.3 from March's 54.8. But at the same time the current index moved sharply higher. The one month rise in the current index is the fifth largest one- [...]

Gasoline prices increased last week to an average $2.49 cents per gallon. Prices were at their highest level since the middle of December, but remained down by roughly one-third versus a year ago. Haver Analytics constructs factors [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) during March fell to -0.42 from -0.18, revised from -0.11. It was the weakest reading since January of last year. The three-month moving average remained [...]