Economy in Brief

The consumer held onto the improved mood adopted since this past summer, just in time for the holiday season. During December the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to 74.5, slightly better than the mid-month [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped last week to 420,000 from 423,000 during the prior period (revised from 420,000). The four-week moving average ticked up to 426,000, still near the lowest since July 2008. The latest [...]

The Belgian CPI continues to run a bit hotter than the CPI for the Euro-Area as a whole. The 0.5% rise in December is high and the 12-month pace of 3.1% is uncomfortable. Over 12 months to Oct the EMU pace is 1.9%. On that same [...]

The mixed pattern of durable goods orders continued through November. Total orders fell another 1.3%, following October's 3.1% drop. But apart from transportation, they were up 2.4%, reversing the 1.9% decline in October, which itself [...]

Personal income growth remains on a moderate growth track supported by improved jobs growth. Last month, income grew 0.3% following a revised 0.4% October rise, initially reported as 0.5%. A 0.2% increase has been the Consensus [...]

The Euro-Area is beset with challenges all around. Italy's name comes into the mix of countries that could be hit by debt problems after Portugal and Spain and sometimes Belgium. It's like a market-based hit list in some 'B' movie... [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that overall mortgage applications plunged 18.6% last week to the lowest since early this year. The decline was led by a 24.6% weekly drop in applications to refinance a mortgage. Applications [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that November sales of existing homes rose 5.6% to 4.680M following an unrevised 2.2% October decline. November sales fell short of Consensus expectations for 4.74M but for the quarter [...]