Economy in Brief

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that business activity continues to deteriorate. The Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity fell to -7 this month, the lowest level since May 2009. Deterioration in [...]

New home sales during March declined to 481,000 (+19.4% y/y) from 543,000 during February, initially reported as 539,000. The latest figure missed expectations for 510,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey and was the [...]

Both the EMU manufacturing and services indices backtracked in April. The overall index fell by one-half point; each component fell by one-half point or less. Yet, for the EMU as a whole, the overall index and each component continue [...]

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 [...]