Economy in Brief

Average gasoline prices improved another 8 cents last week to $2.27 per gallon (-32.7% y/y) following the prior week's 12 cent lift. Despite the gains, prices remained well below the $3.70 per gallon peak reached this past June. Haver [...]

Industrial production increased 0.2% during January (4.8% y/y) following a 0.3% December decline, earlier reported as -0.1%. The latest gain was helped by a 2.2% rise (-6.6%) in utility output. Manufacturing sector production improved [...]

The overall Final Demand Producer Price Index fell 0.8% during January (0.0% y/y) following a 0.2% December decline, revised from -0.3%. A 0.5% drop was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Prices excluding food & energy [...]

Housing starts during January edged 2.0% lower to 1.065 million from 1.087 million in December, revised from 1.089 million. Still, starts remained near the highest level in roughly seven years. Earlier figures were revised slightly [...]

U.K. claimant count paints a wonderful ongoing recovery picture of the economy. The number of claimants and their associated rate of unemployment surged higher in the financial crisis/recession and have since swooped lower to register [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo declined to 55 in February (+19.6% y/y) from an unrevised 57 in January. It was the lowest figure since October. During the last ten years, [...]

The ZEW financial experts' expectations index is back at its highest level in 12 months. Its percentile standing shows it is higher about 28% of the time while the current index, which advanced strongly to 45.5 from 22.4, is higher [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions fell to 7.78 during February, after rising to 9.95 in January. The figures remained well below the 27.41 peak reached last September. The figures are from the Federal [...]