Economy in Brief

The overall U.S. rate of unemployment of 7.4% stood last month at its lowest level since December 2008. Improvement has registered across the country and gained momentum in many states. While the country's overall jobless rate is down [...]

Japanese goods exports fell by 1.8% July as imports of goods surged by 2.7%, widening Japan's trade deficit on the month. Year-over-year exports are growing at a 9.1% annual rate as imports surge at a 17.9% annual rate and as oil [...]

Nonfarm business sector productivity growth during Q2'13 improved 0.9% (SAAR) after two quarters of 1.7% decline. (Figures back through 2011 were revised.) Over the past year, worker productivity has been unchanged. This result [...]

The reading from the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment during mid-August fell sharply to 80.0 (+7.7% y/y) from an unrevised 85.1 in July. Consensus expectations had been for stability at 85.0. The latest [...]

Europe's auto sector is on the mend. While a number of countries are still showing erratic behavior in month-to-month sales, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) reported a strong rise in auto sales, led by the [...]

Housing starts improved 5.9% last month to 896,000 (20.9% y/y) and reversed most of the June decline to 846,000, initially reported as 836,000. The rise nearly matched expectations for 903,000 starts in the Action Economics survey. [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo rose another 3 points to 59 this month after a 5 point advance in July. The latest rise was to the highest level since November 2005 and [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for August slipped to 9.3 from 19.8 in July. Nevertheless, it was the fifth positive reading in the last six months. The figure disappointed [...]