Economy in Brief

Initial unemployment insurance claims rose to 366,000 during the week ended August 11 from 364,000 during the prior week, revised from 361,000. A slip in claims to 363,000 had been expected. The four-week moving average of claims fell [...]

New residential building activity fell slightly last month but the future looks brighter. July housing starts fell 1.1% to 746,000 (+21.5% y/y) from 754,000 in June, revised from 760,000. Expectations had been for 753,000 starts in [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo rose this month to 37 from 35 in July. The latest figure was the highest since March 2007. The index of single-family home sales rose three [...]

While one can look at the plotted path of German GDP and see it as different from France and Italy one can also look at the paths and see a lot of similarity. Topographically the series look much the same. But just before the [...]

Industrial production gained 0.6% during July following a 0.1% June uptick, last month reported as 0.4%. A 0.5% increase had been expected. A steady 0.5% rise in factory output led last month's gain in production. July heat caused [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions for August fell to -5.85, its lowest level since October. Consensus expectations had been for m/m stability at 7.0. Based on these figures, Haver Analytics calculates an [...]

Consumer prices were unchanged last month as they were in June. A 0.2% increase was expected. The year-to-year increase fell to 1.4%, down from its peak of 3.9% last September. A 0.1% increase (2.1% y/y) in prices less food & energy [...]

Flash Estimates of second quarter gross domestic product in the European Union and the Euro Area were released today and can be found in the data base, EUDATA. Both areas are expected to experience declines of 0.2% in the second [...]