Economy in Brief

New home sales increased 16.7% last year to 430,000 units, adding to the 20.2% during 2012. Sales were at their highest level since 2008. Despite the increases, however, sales remained a fraction of the annual peak of 1.279 million [...]

Germany's diffusion indices have been at it again as they improved in January compared to December. For business confidence it is the third straight month of month-to-month increases and it is the third straight month of increases for [...]

ew home sales declined 7.0% to 414,000 (+4.5% y/y), the second month of decline. November sales were revised lower. The latest figure fell short of expectations for 457,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These volume [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) edged up 0.1% (7.6% y/y) during November following a 0.5% October gain. The increase was the smallest since July 2012. During the last three months prices [...]

Retail sales for Italy in November were flat, marking their best performance since August when sales also were flat. The last increase in Italian retail sales came in May 2013 with a 0.1% rise. Despite the fact that there was a better [...]

The index of Leading Economic Indicators, published by the Conference Board, inched up 0.1% during December. That followed a 1.0% jump in November, revised from 0.8%, and missed the 0.2% expected gain in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Sales of existing single-family homes in December improved a modest 1.0% (-0.6% y/y) to 4.870 million (AR) versus a downwardly revised 4.820 million in November. Sales remained 9.6% lower versus the August high and fell short of 4.930 [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) reversed most of its earlier increase and fell to 0.16 last month from 0.69 during November. As a result of the monthly decline, the three-month moving [...]