Economy in Brief

Consumer confidence in Italy rose to 106.3 in May from 105.5 in April. This is the strongest reading since 2010. The three-month rise in the index is 8.4 points, which is the fifth highest three-month gain since November 1989. The [...]

Manufacturing sector activity continues to register surprising improvement. New orders for durable goods increased 0.8% during April (7.1% y/y) following a 3.6% March rise, initially reported as 2.6%. The increase beat expectations [...]

New home sales during April increased 6.4% m/m to 433,000 (AR) from a revised 407,000 in March, initially reported as 384,000. Sales remained 5.7% below the peak in June of last year. The latest figure beat expectations for 425,000 [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its May Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity rebounded to 10 versus 7 in April. These figures were at the highest levels since early-2012. The composite index [...]

The German Ifo survey slipped to an index level of 110.4 in May from 111.2 in April. Both the current situation and the business expectations components fell on the month. The index and its components still are well above their [...]

The flash PMI for the euro area ticked down to 53.9 in May from 54.0 in April. The services reading rose to 53.5 from 53.1 while the manufacturing reading slipped to 52.5 from 53.4. From mid-2011, the May composite reading is the [...]

The first quarter's economic stagnancy looks to have been a hiccup, according the Index of Leading Economic Indicators. The Conference Board reported that the index advanced 0.4% last month, the third month of firm increase following [...]

The worst of the winter's harsh weather effect on housing may have passed, but there's little buoyancy in its wake. Sales of existing single-family homes in April gained 1.3% (-6.8% y/y) to 4.650 million (AR) versus an unrevised 4.590 [...]