Economy in Brief

The factory sector is increasingly gaining a firmer footing. The February composite index of manufacturing activity from the Institute for Supply Management rose to 54.2 from an unrevised 53.1 in January. The latest number beat [...]

Personal income slumped 3.6% last month (+2.2% y/y) after an unrevised 2.6% December jump. A 2.1% decline was the consensus expectation. Last month's fall was due to a one-third drop (-3.3% y/y) in dividend earnings. Income, other [...]

The chart shows not just a difference between Germany and the rest of EMU (actually the result is for EMU so it has the German result embedded in it, lessening the appearance of the true German/Non-German EMU difference!) Germany and [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 344,000 (-8.8% y/y) during the week ended February 23 versus 366,000 a week earlier (revised from 362,000). Consensus expectations were for 360,000 claims. The four week moving average [...]

GDP inched up by 0.1% (AR) in Q4'12 (1.6% y/y). That growth rate reversed a 0.1% slip reported in last month's advance estimate. It remained, however, a marked deceleration in growth versus a 3.1% gain in Q3. The revised figure also [...]

The accompanying chart shows that Germany has been relatively less affected in this economic cycle than other large countries that are members of the European Monetary Union. The comparison with the European monetary union itself with [...]

Pending sales of single-family homes jumped 4.5% (9.5% y/y) last month after a revised 1.9% December decline, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Earlier figures were revised. The sales rebound in the aftermath of [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications fell 3.8% (-1.4% y/y) last week to the lowest level since late December. Home purchase applications fell 5.2% (+4.1% y/y) while applications to refinance an [...]