Economy in Brief

According to the outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas the level of layoffs during June rose slightly to 39,358. Still, the level was off by roughly one-half from last year and slightly above the lowest level since 2000. [...]

A modestly rising trend to initial claims for unemployment insurance has become apparent. Claims rose 13,000 last week to 472,000 following a slightly-revised 17,000 decline during the prior week. Consensus expectations were for [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications rose again last week by 8.8% to pull the June average up 4.0% from May and up by one-half from June '09. Firm lending activity continued to reflect strong [...]

The rate of improvement in the U.S. job market slowed during June. The latest report from the payroll processor ADP, in their National Employment Report, indicated that private nonfarm payroll levels rose last month by 13,000. The [...]

Sentiment among the Big Five EU countries saw improvements in three of those five. Set backs in June were experienced in the UK and in France. For France its the second drop in a row. After seeing drops in four of six of the largest [...]

French households continue to express dissatisfaction with their lot. The June overall Household Confidence Indicator published by INSEE (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economique) declined another point to -39% [...]

The pump price for regular gasoline of $2.76 per gallon last week was its highest in five weeks. Also, prices were up more than three-quarters since the December 2008 low. Yesterday, the spot market price for a gallon of regular [...]

The Conference Board indicated that consumer confidence wavered this month. Their consumer confidence index fell 15.6% m/m to 52.9 and gave up the prior two months' increase. Nevertheless, confidence remained improved from last year. [...]