Economy in Brief

Wholesale sales increased 0.7% (6.6% y/y) during May following an unrevised 1.3% gain in April. In the durable goods sector, sales inched 0.2% higher (5.9% y/y) after 1.6% increases in the prior two months. The latest rise was held [...]

Industrial production across the euro area has taken a hammering in May. It began with weaker than expected results from Germany, followed by unexpected weakness in Italy and then in France. All the early reporters of industrial [...]

The job market showed signs of improvement to begin the new month. Initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 304,000 (-13.9% y/y) during the week ended July 5 from an unrevised 315,000 in the prior week. The latest claims [...]

The Federal Reserve Board reported that consumer credit outstanding increased $19.6 billion during May following a $26.1 billion April gain, last month reported as $26.8 billion. Expectations were for an $18.1 billion increase, [...]

The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales increased 1.7% (3.3% y/y) last week, the third week of strong gain. Sales began this month 3.6% above the June average which slipped 0.2% [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index moved 1.9% higher last week (-33.6% y/y) to the highest level in four weeks. Applications remained two-thirds below the peak in September 2012. [...]

Greek inflation has slowed its rate of descent in June. In March, prices were falling by 1.5% year-over-year. In April that accelerated to -1.6%; in May, prices were falling by 2.1% year-over-year. In June, the year-over-year decline [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline edged two cents lower to $3.68 last week (+5.3% y/y). Prices remained lower than the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. To account for seasonal volatility, Haver [...]