Economy in Brief

Overall Japanese machinery orders recovered in March, rising 4% from February's 3.3% drop after an 8.1% gain in January. Core orders (which exclude categories like ships and electric power) made a better recovery, rising 19.1% [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that its Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions for May jumped to 19.01 from 1.29 during April. The latest was the highest level since May 2011 and beat expectations [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo edged lower to 45 this month from 46 in April, revised from 47. The latest figure was the lowest since May of last year and disappointed [...]

Perspective: As we get excited about the return to growth in Europe, or at least hope that it will return to growth after what was a worse-than-expected first-quarter, it's important to look back and think of days gone by. While I [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for May dipped to 15.4 from 16.6 in April. Nevertheless, the latest figure remained nearly the highest since last September and beat consensus [...]

Housing starts in April gained 13.2% to 1.072 million (AR, 26.4% y/y) from 947,000 during March, revised from 946,000. The latest figure was the highest since November and easily beat expectations for 980,000 starts in the Action [...]

Industrial output's trend slowed in April, as output fell by 0.6% following a 2% spurt in March. Utilities' output fell sharply by 5.2% after a 0.3% gain in March. Mining output continues to be strong, slowing to a 1.4% gain after a [...]

Consumer prices increased 0.3% (2.0% y/y) in April, the largest increase since last June. The number equaled consensus expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The pick-up in the year-on-year change from 1.5% in March to [...]