Economy in Brief: 2011

The EU indices show continued weakness in the EU area. The slippage this month, however, was minor. Still, the overall EU index stands in the 22nd percentile of its historic rank. Consumer confidence stands in the 12th percentile. [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of existing single-family homes fell 4.6% last month to the lowest level since April. A 0.4% rise had been expected by Bloomberg. For all of Q3, sales were roughly [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance slipped to 402,000 last week versus 404,000 a week earlier (revised from 403,000). The latest figure compared to 400,000 as expected in the Action Economics survey. The 4-week moving average of [...]

The U.S. economy is not yet on the firmest of footings, but its earlier slowdown eased last quarter.Real GDP grew at a 2.5% annual rate in Q3. The latest was the firmest growth in four quarters and it matched Consensus expectations. [...]

Weak orders and weak trends: Total UK industrial orders are lower, much lower in October, dropping from a -9 (where they slipped last month from a +1 in August) to a -18. Oh, how quickly optimism can fade - faster than a new pair of [...]

The index of total mortgage applications recovered 4.9% last week to 664.0 (March 16, 1990 = 100). Nevertheless, the figure remained near the lowest since early-last month. Leading the rebound, weekly applications to purchase a home [...]

Total new home sales improved 5.7% last month to 313,000 (AR) after a 0.3% August slip that was less than reported initially. The latest increase was the first in the last five months and it beat Consensus expectations for 300,000 [...]

New orders for durable goods fell an expected 0.8% last month following an unrevised 0.1% slip during August. A sharp 7.5% decline in orders in the transportation sector accounted for all of the decline. Orders for aircraft & parts [...]