Economy in Brief

New orders for durable goods slumped 4.0% last month after a revised 3.2% December increase, originally reported as 3.0%. Consensus expectations had been for a 1.0% fall. However, the latest decline ran counter to the ISM orders [...]

If gasoline prices seem high, they are. Seasonally adjusted prices reached a record high last week. Pump prices for regular gasoline increased another thirteen cents last week to $3.72 per gallon and were up forty three cents versus [...]

Money growth continues to show some amazingly different international trends in the key developed countries of the global monetary center. In the US money growth has kicked up but velocity has shifted down, keeping that pick up at bay [...]

The March survey of business conditions surveyed by the Bank of Korea shows improvement from 78 in January to 80 in February in actual conditions in Korean manufacturing industry and from 81 in February to 84 in March in what is [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that January pending sales of single-family homes improved 2.0% (8.0% y/y) following a lessened 1.9% December drop. The index level of 97.0 (2001=100) was the highest since April of [...]

The first look at the economic forecast for 2013 by the National Association for Business Economics indicated a modest pickup in growth and pricing power. In 2013, real GDP growth should average 2.8% versus 2.3% expected for this [...]

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment rose in February to 75.3 and was improved from the mid-month reading of 72.5. The figure beat expectations for 72.8 and sentiment stands at its highest level in twelve months. [...]

Sales were bolstered by extremely warm temperatures, but total new home sales slipped 0.9% last month to 321,000 following four months of sizable gain. The figures for 2H'11 were revised up. Sales beat Consensus expectations for [...]