Economy in Brief

Industrial output is advancing smartly in Germany across all three main sectors. The output of consumer goods is finally in gear, rising at a 2.3% annual rate. Intermediate goods output is up at a 16% annual rate. Capital goods the [...]

Another sign of job market improvement was the indication that initial claims for jobless insurance slipped to 382,000 last week from 392,000, which was revised from 388,000. The latest figure roughly matched Consensus expectations [...]

Orders are strong and resilient- German orders are proving to be quite resilient, as the chart shows the growth in both domestic and in foreign-sourced orders have each remained at a pace that continues to exceed their growth of the [...]

In the first week of April, sales at chain stores jumped 2.3% w/w. Sales did the same last month, then held on for a 3.0% increase versus February. During the last ten years there has been a 66% correlation between the y/y change in [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that overall mortgage applications fell 2.0% last week to the lowest level since late-February. Applications to refinance fell 6.2% w/w and were off roughly one-half from the peak last August. [...]

The American Bankers Association reported that the number of loans past due as a percentage of the number of loans outstanding fell sharply by the end of last year. In addition, based on loan values the figure also was down sharply [...]

EMU lead by Germany- The EMU service sector is still on the rise but the rise is not on a particularly strong trajectory of expansion. After a set-back in February, Germany's services index is up strongly but still not back to its [...]

What will the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee do about the official bank rate when it meets on April 11? The rate has been held at 0.5% since March 5, 2009 and inflation concerns are rising. The incoming data continue to [...]