Economy in Brief

Germans do live in a country of their own but is it also a world of their own? The forward-looking GFK consumer climate survey moved up to 6.8 in July from 6.5 in June. The 6.8 reading was last surpassed in September 2007. The German [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that total applications for a home mortgage fell 3.0% w/w, extending the declines of the prior six weeks. The latest level was down by one-third since early-May. Last week's decline reflected [...]

Real GDP growth for Q1'13 was revised lower to 1.8% (1.6% y/y) from last month's estimated 2.4% rise. Expectations were for a 2.4% gain. Growth in consumer spending and business investment were significantly reduced, but residential [...]

Home price strength is building throughout the country. The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20 City Home Price Index rose 1.7% (12.0% y/y) during April following its upwardly revised 1.9% March jump, earlier reported as 1.1%. The [...]

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 housing market continues to improve. New home sales increased 2.1% (29.0% y/y) last month to 476,000 (AR) from a revised 466,000 during April, initially reported as 454,000. The latest level was the highest since July 2008 and [...]

French business climate according to the INSEE index is up to 93 in June from 92 in May with May itself having risen to 92 from 89. The chart shows that there is some slight ongoing improvement but mostly that the downtrend in [...]

Improvement in new orders is broadening within the factory sector. New orders for durable goods jumped 3.6% (7.6% y/y) during May following a like increase in April, initially reported as 3.3%. A 2.5% rise in orders for last month had [...]