Economy in Brief

Last year closed out with firmness in the factory sector. The Composite Index of Manufacturing Sector Activity from the Institute for Supply Management slipped to 57.0 during December from an unrevised 57.3 in November. Nevertheless, [...]

Labor market improvement was in evidence as 2013 came to a close. Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped to 339,000 during the week ended December 28 from 341,000 in the prior week, revised from 338,000. It was the lowest [...]

The overall EMU PMI rose in December by better than one point to a solid 52.68. Being above 50 in the PMI framework means that output is expanding and with the gain in December it is expanding faster than in November. The queue [...]

After falling in October and November, consumer confidence recovered in December, picking up to 78.1 (SA, 1985=100) from November's 72.0, which is modestly revised from 70.4 reported initially. The Action Economics consensus expected [...]

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20- City Home Price Index rose 1.0% in both September and October, making the twelve-month increase 13.6%, its greatest since February 2006. The 3-month annualized rate of increase had slowed [...]

This is my last research report of 2013. In it I look ahead to 2014. The chart and table in this report provide a basis for thinking of the trends that are set in place as 2013 ends and projecting them into the year ahead. We have [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that November pending sales of single-family homes inched up 0.2% m/m, their first rise since May. They were off 1.5% from a year ago. Sales rose in two regions, the South and the [...]

There have only been a few months of sales increases. But Spain's retail sales are advancing and that is good news since sales have been falling year over year since 2007- almost without exception. Retail sales are up monthly for the [...]