Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 372,000 during the week ended August 18 from 368,000 during the prior week, revised from 366,000. Consensus expectations were for 365,000 claims. The four-week moving average of claims [...]

Sales of existing homes rose 2.3% last month to a 4.470M annual rate last month. That made up roughly half of June's unrevised decline. Expectations were for 4.50M sales. Sales of existing single-family homes alone rose 2.1% to [...]

Japan’s trade trends have remained firmly riveted in place with its goods trade position in deficit for 17 months running and its export and import trends in a clear decelerating phase. Japan is caught between some powerful forces [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications fell 7.4% last week (+17.5% y/y), the third straight week of sharp decline. Applications have fallen 13.2% from last month's high. Applications to refinance fell [...]

The British Confederation of Industries (CBI) conducts monthly and quarterly surveys of the Distributive Trades, the Industrial and the Service Industries.Data from the Monthly and Quarterly surveys of the Industrial Industries were [...]

Chain store sales fell 1.5% last week (+3.1% y/y), the third week of sluggishness in the last four. However, soft sales now contrast with a solid 3.3% rise in purchases during all of July. During the last ten years there has been a [...]

The summer driving season is in full gear.The pump price of regular gasoline rose two cents last week to $3.74 per gallon, the highest level since early May. Haver Analytics' seasonally-adjusted price for regular rose another seven [...]

The British Confederation of Industries (CBI) conducts monthly and quarterly surveys of the Distributive Trades, the Industrial and the Service Industries.Data from the Monthly and Quarterly surveys of the Industrial Industries were [...]