Economy in Brief

New orders for durable goods fell 1.0% during January (+4.6 y/y) following a 5.3% December drop, revised from a 4.3% decline. The latest decline matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 5.6% drop (+13.6% y/y) in [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its February Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity dipped to 4 from 5 during January. The composite index is an average of the production, new orders, [...]

The EMU overall sentiment gauge and the reading on the EU overall rose in February. The sector readings for the whole of the EU show weakening consumer confidence in the month, a flat construction sector and a small rise in the [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance bounced up to 348,000 during the week ended February 22 from 334,000 in the prior week, initially reported as 336,000. This latest level was the highest since late-January. Expectations had [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 1.0% during January (+4.6 y/y) following a 5.3% December drop, revised from a 4.3% decline. The latest decline matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 5.6% drop (+13.6% y/y) in [...]

Harsh winter weather didn't discourage home buyers last month. New home sales improved 9.6% to 468,000 (2.2% y/y), the highest level since July 2008. December sales were revised to 427,000 from 414,000. The latest figure beat [...]

The estimate of German consumer confidence in March has moved higher, according to the research group GfK. At a level of 8.5 Germany's consumer climate was last higher in January 2007; it was above its current level for a period of [...]

A softer housing market has lessened the workload of mortgage bankers. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index declined 8.5% last week (-53.7% y/y), the third consecutive week of sharp decline. [...]