Economy in Brief

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo recovered to 56 in April (21.7% y/y) following a plunge to 52 in March, revised from 53. It was the highest level since January. During the [...]

Overall industrial output fell 0.6% during March (+2.0% y/y) following an unrevised 0.1% February uptick. Improved weather caused utility output to fall 5.9%, reversing February's increase. A 0.3% decline in production had been [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions declined to -1.19 during April after slipping to 6.90 in March. The figure, from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was the first negative reading since December and [...]

With global growth sputtering and the euro plunging on foreign exchange markets, the EMU region's trade surplus has reached its second highest point in at least the last 16 years. While everyone is obsessed about how low the euro can [...]

Gasoline prices remained stable last week at $2.41 cents per gallon, down by roughly one-third versus a year ago. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump prices. The seasonally adjusted price [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported a March reading of 95.2 for its Small Business Optimism Index versus an unrevised 98.0 during February. The figure was its lowest since June of last year. Movement in the [...]

The overall Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.2% during March (-0.8% y/y) following an unrevised 0.5% February decline. A 0.1% uptick was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Prices excluding food & energy [...]

The weather improved last month so shoppers exercised their wallets. Overall retail sales including food services & drinking places during March increased 0.9% (1.3% y/y) following three straight months of decline. A 1.0% increase had [...]