Economy in Brief

The overall U.S. rate of unemployment of 6.7% last month was its lowest since October 2008. Improvement was registered across the country and gained momentum in many states. While the country's overall jobless rate is down 2.2 [...]

Money growth rates around the world have become somewhat mixed. Year-over-year growth rates in the United States and the European Monetary Union have slowed slightly while growth rates in the UK and Japan have been accelerating. The [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index slipped just 0.2% last week (-50.9% y/y) following firm gains during the prior three weeks. Applications have risen 19.9% since the end of last month. [...]

The durable goods manufacturing sector had a good year in 2013. New orders increased 5.1% for the full year following a 4.1% gain in 2012. These increases were, however, slower than the double-digit gains of the prior two years. [...]

Consumers are feeling better about things. Consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, improved to an index reading of 80.7 this month from December's 78.5, revised from 78.1. The latest gain outpaced the Action [...]

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index gained another 0.9% during November following increases near 1.0% during the prior three months. These lifted the y/y rise to 13.8%, its strongest since February 2006. The [...]

The durable goods manufacturing sector had a good year in 2013. New orders increased 5.1% for the full year following a 4.1% gain in 2012. These increases were, however, slower than the double-digit gains of the prior two years. [...]

Italy's consumer confidence rebounded in January to 98 from a December low of 96.4. At this level the January reading for consumer confidence is still below its level of November 2013- not really much of a bounce. The level ranks in [...]