Economy in Brief: March 2019

New home sales increased 3.7% to 621,000 during December following a November increase to 599,000, revised from 657,000. It was the highest level of sales in six months. During all of 2018, new home sales increased 0.9% to 621,000, [...]

PMI data for February show the services sector is firming in the EMU and in three of the four largest EMU members. China shows services sector deterioration and flips the switch on sector weakness and strength. In the EMU, both [...]

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) rose more than expected to 59.7 in February. This followed two consecutive monthly declines. While suggestive of strong growth, the [...]

The retail price for gasoline rose to $2.42 per gallon last week (-5.4% y/y), the fourth consecutive week of increase. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally- [...]

Composite or total economy indexes show pronounced weakness in February when the bottom seems to fall out in China and in Hong Kong as weakness permeates many other countries. However, the picture is still foggy since there are also [...]

The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.6% (+0.8% y/y) during December. It reversed an unrevised 0.8% November gain. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of 2018, construction's [...]

PPI inflation is on-the-run again in the EMU despite a pick-up in January. This largely stems from falling oil prices as Brent oil prices are falling at a 13% pace over 12 months, at a 36% pace over six months and at a 69% annualized [...]

The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.6% (+0.8% y/y) during December. It reversed an unrevised 0.8% November gain. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of 2018, construction's [...]