Economy in Brief

Forward momentum in factory sector activity waned a bit last month. The Composite Index of industrial sector activity from the Institute For Supply Management slipped to 52.4 from an unrevised 54.1 in January. The latest reading [...]

Individuals' wherewithal to spend diminished last month, so they didn't. Disposable personal income increased a scant 0.1% (2.3% y/y) as taxes jumped 1.6% (8.7% y/y). Adjusted for prices, disposable income slipped 0.1% m/m (+0.6% [...]

EMU inflation has begun to turn lower. Currently the EMU pace is at 2.6% and is above the ceiling the ECB has set for its inflation objective over longer periods of time (2%). As of January, only Ireland has a headline rate below the [...]

The index of total mortgage applications rose 7.5% last week to 810.0 (March 16, 1990 = 100), nearly the highest since late 2010. The rise followed two weeks of moderate decline. Continuing to take advantage of low interest rates, [...]

Economic growth last quarter was slightly higher than originally estimated. The Commerce Department indicated that Q4'11 real GDP grew at a 3.0% annual rate, revised from 2.8%. Expectations had been for an unchanged 2.8% rise. Growth [...]

Consumer and industrial confidence in the Euro Area increased slightly in February, the first increase since February of a year ago. Most probably the increases were due to the agreement on the terms of a program of debt restructuring [...]

Consumers have been heartened by a firmer job market and low inflation. The Conference Board's Index of Consumer Confidence rebounded during February to 70.8 (seasonally adjusted, 1985=100) and recovered to the highest level in a [...]

Year-end and full year 2011 were periods of house price decline. The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index dropped 1.1% in December after an unrevised 1.3% decline in November. That pulled prices over the last [...]