Economy in Brief

Consumer confidence remains on an uptrend. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 81.4 this month following a downwardly revised May reading of 74.3. Consensus expectations had been for 75.2. During the last ten [...]

The EU index in July rose to 95 from 92.6, a relatively large jump the ranks 20th out of about the last 250 observations; that places it in the top 11% of all monthly changes over that period. Consumer confidence made a particular [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 80.3 this month from an upwardly revised 82.1 in June, weighted down by the over-35 crowd. Consensus expectations had been for 81.0. During the last ten years, there has been [...]

Home price improvement remains the strongest since 2006. The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20 City Home Price Index rose 1.0% (12.1% y/y) during May following its unrevised 1.7% April advance. The 3-month annualized rate of [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that its General Business Activity Index fell to 4.4 this month from 6.5 during June. The series, nevertheless, remained improved from its spring lows. Monthly deterioration in the index [...]

Italian business and consumer confidence improved in July. Both series- with special emphasis on the consumer series- increased sharply in June and have followed that up with another gain in July. That improvement continues in July [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes during June edged 0.4% lower (+10.9% y/y) after a downwardly revised 5.8% increase during May. The latest level, nevertheless, remained [...]

The consumer feels good. The reading from the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment during all of July rose to 85.1 from 84.1 in June. The full-month number improved from the preliminary figure of 83.8. The [...]