Economy in Brief

Initial claims for jobless insurance fell sharply to 339,000 during the week ended October 6 versus a revised 369,000 during the prior week, initially reported as 367,000. Consensus expectations were for 368,000. The four-week moving [...]

Industrial output fell in August in Germany, Finland and in the UK. But for most EMU members listed in this table IP advanced. Over three months IP is up very strongly in Portugal (31.8% pace) and Greece (24.7% pace). France and Spain [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the job openings rate held at 2.6% in August and was improved versus the recession low of 1.6%. The job openings rate is the number of [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications slipped 1.2% last week (+35.5% y/y) led by a 2.0% decline (+41.8% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing loan. Home purchase applications gained 2.4% last [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline recovered five cents last week to $3.85, the highest level in three weeks. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for regular volatility and the adjusted price rose seven [...]

A diverse group of five countries reported August Industrial Production data over the last couple of days. They were Indonesia, Turkey, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Their Industrial Production data are shown in the [...]

With growth in the e-Zone under pressure and evidence that weakness has spread to the core zone nations German industrial output has contracted in August, falling by 0.5%. Output is down over 12-months by 1.4% but it registers [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business indicated that its September Index of Small Business Optimism slipped to 92.8 from 92.9 in August. The Q3 average of 92.3 was its lowest this year. Recent weakness was led by fewer firms [...]