Economy in Brief

Initial unemployment insurance claims spiked to 388,000 in the week ended October 13 versus a revised 342,000, last week reported as 339,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that technical issues account for the recent [...]

UK unemployment measures have begun to bend lower. The drop in the number of claimants in Sept was unexpected. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level in more than a year as the labor market absorbed record number of workers [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications fell 4.2% last week (+52.3% y/y), down for the second straight week. The decline was led by a 5.3% drop (+60.6% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing loan. [...]

Last month builders began work on more new homes than in any month in four years. Total housing starts jumped 15.0% (34.8% y/y) to 872,000 (AR) from 758,000 during August, revised up from 750,000. Expectations had been for 770,000 [...]

China's e merchandise trade exports rose 3.4% in September from 168.6 Bil US$ in August to 174.3 Bil US$ and were 10.2% above September, 2011. The good news was dampened by an article on the front page of today's Financial Times, [...]

The October ZEW survey of the German financial community showed that the 288 financial analysts and investors who participated in the survey have become less pessimistic. The excess of pessimists regarding expectations for the economy [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo rose this month to 41 from 40 in September. The latest figure was the highest since June 2006. The index of single-family home sales held [...]

The factory sector remained under pressure last month because of slack demand and too many inventories. Industrial production gained a modest 0.4% during September following a 1.4% August decline, last month reported as -1.2%. A 0.3% [...]