Economy in Brief

Euro-Area orders jumped by over 5% in August after a drop of 1.8% in July, restoring some sense of balance to the outlook for the Euro-Area itself. In July three of the four largest Euro-Area economies had seen orders drop by about 2% [...]

With the up coming summit meeting of the Group of 20 leading economies on November 11th and 12th in Seoul, Korea exchange rates will be high on the agenda. The finance ministers and central bankers of the 20 met in Gyeongju, Korea [...]

In another sign of weakness in the U.S. economy, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) fell further last month to its lowest level since February. Moreover, it was near its lowest level of the economic recovery. The decline [...]

Price discounts seem to have buoyed home sales last month. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during September increased 10.0% to 4.53M following a little revised 7.3% August increase. September [...]

What every homeowner needs is something to sit on. But a poor job market can put off the day of purchasing that new item. During 2009 furniture sales, as reported by the U.S. Commerce Dept., fell 11% following declines during the [...]

Germany's IFO survey is strong in October. Expectations were for weakness to gnaw away at the German economy but instead the economy is pushing ahead. The diffusion reading on the Climate index rose the better part of two points to [...]

The Conference Board reported that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.3% during September after a downwardly revised 0.1% August uptick that was initially reported at 0.3%. Nevertheless, the latest reading was a record [...]

There was further loss of forward economic momentum last quarter. Moreover, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank indicated that Q4 began with little improvement. The Bank's October index of regional factory sector activity improved [...]