Economy in Brief

MFG PMIs continued to slip in December despite some hope that there might be a bounce. Four of nine nations in the table saw a minor bounce in December but the weighted EMU overall index fell. The German index fell, too. Improving [...]

Factory sector activity posted a modest recovery last month following several months of downward pressure. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its December composite index of manufacturing activity rose to 50.7 from an [...]

Pending sales of existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops gained another 1.7% (9.8% y/y) last month after a slightly revised 5.0% October rise, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The latest figure joined [...]

New home sales reversed their October decline in November, as they gained 4.4% to a 377,000 annual rate (+15.3% y/y). This was the largest monthly amount since April 2010. The October result was revised to 361,000 from 368,000 [...]

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for December fell 6.4 points to 65.1 (1985=100) from 71.5 in November. That figure was itself revised down 2.2 points from 73.7 reported a month ago. Consensus expectations had called [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased last week (ended December 22) to 350,000 following an uptick the week before to 362,000 (revised marginally from 361,000). Consensus expectations had looked for a nearly unchanged [...]

Housing market conditions continue to improve, as home prices firmed further in October, according to the seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20 City Home Price Index. This measure rose 0.7% in the month following 0.4% in September; the [...]

Durable goods orders increased 0.7% in November (0.8% y/y) after a 1.1% rise in October. October's figure was revised from the "advance" figure of zero change reported a month ago and the full manufacturing report number of 0.5%. [...]