Economy in Brief

Factory sector activity in the Midwest region heated up this month. The MNI Chicago Report business barometer for October jumped to 65.9, its highest level since March of 2011. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey were [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 340,000 (-7.4% y/y) during the week ended October 26 from an unrevised 350,000 during the prior week. The Labor Department indicated that no claims were due to a processing [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed elected to continue purchasing $85 billion per month of agency mortgage-backed and Treasury securities. It "reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of [...]

Total business inventories increased 0.3% during August (3.1% y/y) following a 0.4% July rise. The figure was accompanied by a 0.3% gain (4.2% y/y) in business sales which came after a 0.6% July increase. As a result, the inventory- [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index jumped 6.4% last week but still was down 40.1% year-to-year. Home purchase mortgage applications increased 2.3% last week (-0.4% y/y) but remained 16.4% [...]

The September consumer price index matched expectations and increased 0.2% (1.5% y/y). That followed an unrevised 0.1% uptick during August. Prices excluding food and energy again rose a minimal 0.1% (1.7% y/y) and contrasted with [...]

Job growth has ratcheted down. The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated a 130,000 rise (1.8% y/y) in non-farm private sector jobs during October, the weakest gain in six months. It followed downwardly revised increases of [...]

The producer price index for finished goods was a mixed bag in September with only a modest change in total, which eased 0.1% (+ 0.3% y/y) following August's 0.3% increase. Consensus expectations looked for a 0.2% rise. Prices [...]