Economy in Brief

Mortgage lenders were busy last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications rose 42.2% in 2012 after declining during the prior two years. For last week, applications rose 11.7% (9.5% y/y) yet remained [...]

Individuals currently are inclined to borrow aggressively. Consumer credit outstanding jumped another $16.1B during November following a little-revised $14.0B October increase, according to the Federal Reserve. The latest rise left [...]

The latest report from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs showed consumers' inclination to spend over the holidays evaporated with the new year. Chain store sales plunged 4.2% last week (+4.0% y/y) [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline held steady last week at $3.30 per gallon. That followed two weeks of slight increase from the low of $3.25. Since their September peak, prices remain down 58 cents per gallon. The norm [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business indicated that its December index of Small Business Optimism held near its lowest level of the economic recovery. The figure ticked up to 88.0 following its unrevised November plunge to [...]

Canada's Purchasing Managers became a bit more optimistic at year end with the Ivey PMI rising from 47.5% in November to 52.8% in December. The improvement in their outlook was due largely to the expectation that inventories would be [...]

Canada's Purchasing Managers became a bit more optimistic at year end with the Ivey PMI rising from 47.5% in November to 52.8% in December. The improvement in their outlook was due largely to the expectation that inventories would be [...]

Participation rates in the labor force have been declining for decades. Friday's household employment report, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated that they reached new lows. December's 63.6% participation rate, which is the [...]