Economy in Brief

Industrial production momentum in the euro area has been short-circuited in March. Industrial production excluding construction fell by 0.3%. Combined with a decline in January, the three-month growth rate logs a -0.8% annual rate. [...]

Lower mortgage rates are prompting an increase in home-financing activity. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 3.6% last week (-58.5% y/y) but remained in the sideways [...]

Pricing power improved last month throughout much of the economy. The overall final demand PPI increased 0.6% (2.1% y/y) during April following an unrevised 0.5% March gain. It was the largest increase since September 2012 and easily [...]

Retail and food service sales ticked 0.1% higher last month following a 1.5% March increase, revised from 1.1%. A 0.4% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales of motor vehicles & parts increased 0.6% [...]

Total business inventories increased 0.4% in March (4.7% y/y) after a 0.5% February rise. The latest gain was accompanied by a 1.0% jump (4.3% y/y) in business sales after February's like rise. As a result, the inventory-to-sales [...]

The ZEW survey of current conditions and expectations for May is producing striking results. While the current index continues to show improvement rising to 62.1 in May from 59.5 in April and 51.3 in March, expectations have been cut [...]

Import prices declined 0.4% during April and reversed a revised 0.4% March rise, last month reported as 0.6%. A 0.4% increase had been expected in the Action Economics survey. A 0.7% drop (+0.1% y/y) in petroleum prices led the [...]

Small business sentiment is emerging from the winter doldrums. The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index jumped to 95.2 during April after its increase to 93.4 in March. The latest [...]