Economy in Brief: 2017

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $63.2 billion budget deficit during October compared to a $45.8 billion deficit in October 2016. A deficit of $49.0 billion had been expected in the Action [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) slipped 1.4% during the last four weeks, but gained 11.5% in the last twelve months. The latest index level of 159.45 [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level increased 0.3% during September (4.6% y/y) following a 0.8% August gain, revised from 0.9%. During the last three months, inventories have risen at a 7.5% annual rate, up from little change January [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims increased to 239,000 (-4.4% y/y) during the week ended November 4 from an unrevised 229,000 in the prior week. Expectations had been for 233,000 claims in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]

In September, French exports barely nudged ahead as imports gained 1.2% expanding the trade deficit to 6.4 billion euros from 5.9 billion euros in August. On a broader timeline, imports have been outpacing exports since early-2016 on [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index remained unchanged (-18.9% y/y) last week, but was 15.7% below the September high. Purchase applications edged 0.5% higher (8.2% y/y) [...]

Consumers didn't hesitate to borrow last month. Consumer credit outstanding grew $20.84 billion during September (5.6% y/y) following a $13.14 billion August increase, revised from $13.07 billion. It was the strongest increase since [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate in September remained at the record high of 4.0%, where it's been for four straight months. The hiring rate declined, however, to 3.6%, the lowest level since [...]