Economy in Brief

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index held roughly constant during May after an upwardly revised 0.4% April gain. Nevertheless, during the last twelve months prices have fallen 4.5% after rising modestly y/y [...]

For Italian consumers the thrill is gone. That is if there ever was a thrill. Confidence did rise as the recession wound down, but then its rebound deflated very quickly as expected recovery proved to be somewhere between elusive and [...]

The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, (CPB) complies the most up to date data on world trade. The latest data, in the form of indexes with a base year of 2000 are for May and were published today. The volume of world [...]

This year's second quarter was a tough one regarding economic momentum. The Chicago Fed reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) was again negative during June at -0.46 following a revised -0.55 in May, initially reported as [...]

Reported yesterday, the U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) increased slightly for the second month. The May index rose 0.4% after a 0.2% April uptick. The gain steadied the y/y decline at 6.3%. [...]

Mass layoffs in the U.S. during June fell and reversed the May increase. The Labor Department reported this morning that layoffs of 50 or more persons from a single firm fell 4.2% in June versus May following that month's 2.2% [...]

EMU orders surged by 3.6% in May after dropping by 0.1% in April, rising 0.4% in March, and rising 0.3% in February. After a period of some lethargy orders are back on track. Or are they? The 12-Mo, to 6-Mo to 3-Mo growth rates are [...]

The Conference Board reported that its Leading Economic Indicators index rose 0.3% last month following an unrevised 0.8% May increase. Consensus expectations were for a 0.2% rise in June. Despite the latest increases, three-month [...]