Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance of 326,000 during the week ended January 18 held near the prior week's level of 325,000, revised from 326,000. It was the lowest level since late-November. Expectations had been for an uptick [...]

The Markit PMI data in their flash incarnation showed an increase in the composite reading for the euro area in January. The composite rose to 53.16 from December's 52.06, marking only the second increase in a row. The composite [...]

Labor Force Participation Rates (%) Dec 2013 2008 2003 1998 1993 1988 Total 62.8 63.3 66.0 66.2 67.1 66.3 65.9 16-24 Years 54.8 55.0 58.8 61.6 65.9 66.1 68.4 25-34 Years 81.0 81.2 83.4 82.9 84.6 83.3 83.3 35-44 Years 82.1 82.2 84.1 [...]

Italy's trade surplus grew in November to ?3.8 billion from ?3.7 billion in October. The growing surplus- on the face of it- seems to be evidence that Italy's economy is growing and its competitiveness is improving. However, there is [...]

"It's tough to get good help these days" has long been potential employers' lament. The problem lately has been attributed to many factors; the early retirement of baby boomers, young potential workers staying in school, increased [...]

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline prices fell to $3.30 (-0.6% y/y) last week and remained down versus the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for [...]

Activity in the mortgage market firmed appreciably last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index rose another 4.7% last week (-54.8% y/y) following the prior week's 11.9% gain. The gain [...]

The ZEW index which is the result of a survey of financial experts in Germany revealed a slight back off and expectations in January compared to December. The back-office light, but again had been expected. The current conditions [...]