Economy in Brief

Lower interest rates can still stimulate activity in the mortgage market. The Mortgage Bankers Association index of total mortgage applications jumped 16.9% (68.2% y/y) last week, nearly reaching this cycle's high. Applications to [...]

The housing market continues to respond to low interest rates, however slowly. June housing starts rose 6.9% to 760,000 (23.6% y/y) from 711,000 in May, revised from 708,000. The latest level was the highest of the economic recovery, [...]

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo reported that its Composite Housing Market Index jumped this month to 35 from an unrevised 29 in June. The latest figure was the highest since March 2007. More individuals are out [...]

This month's Zew survey continues a trend that has been in play for several months. Sentiment remains quite low and this month it is moving lower. The current situation has slipped for the second month in a row. And in those two [...]

Industrial output gained 0.4% during June following a revised 0.2% May decline, last month reported as -0.1%. A 0.3% increase had been expected. A rebound in factory output led last month's improvement with a 0.7% rise which reversed [...]

Drivers are dealing with something normal for this time of year - higher fuel costs.The pump price of regular gasoline rose another two cents last week to $3.43 per gallon. Nevertheless, the price is barely higher than the recent low [...]

Consumer prices were unchanged last month, as expected. The figure left the y/y increase at 1.7%, down from its peak of 3.9% last September. Prices less food and energy increased a steady and expected 0.2% for the fourth straight [...]

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that during May, business inventories rose 0.3% for the third consecutive month. The modest gain lowered the y/y rise to 5.2%, its least since May of 2010. Business sales slipped 0.1% for the [...]