Economy in Brief

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that business activity moderated significantly this month. The Fed indicated that answers to a special question cited West Coast port disruptions as contributing significantly to the [...]

The EMU is showing a clear pick up in credit and money growth trends as of February 2015. It is beginning to look as though the ECB's special efforts to stimulate credit growth are starting to pay off. The QE effort is too recent to [...]

The labor market remains on a firm footing. Initial claims for jobless insurance in the week ended March 21 declined to 282,000 from an unrevised 291,000 during the prior week. The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 9.5% last week (21.0% y/y) to the highest level since early-February. Refinance applications led the way up with a 12.3% w/w increase [...]

The INSEE survey of French business climate slipped to 99 in March from 100 (in January and February), dipping below its historic mean (100). The reading is now slightly subnormal and below its median (rank % = 50 is its median) and [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 1.4% during February (+0.6% y/y) following a 2.0% January increase, initially estimated as 2.8%. An 8.9% decline (-22.4 y/y) in nondefense aircraft & parts bookings led total orders downward. Total [...]

Gasoline prices ticked 1 cent higher last week to $2.46 cents per gallon. Prices remained well below the $3.70 per gallon peak last June. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in pump prices. The [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) increased 0.3% in January (5.1% y/y) following a 0.7% December rise, which was revised slightly from 0.8% reported initially. The three-month gain in prices [...]