Economy in Brief: January 2003

Personal income rose twice the Consensus expectation for a 0.2% gain last month. Firm growth in nominal income and tax cuts lifted disposable income growth last year to 5.9%, 4.5% after inflation. These gains raised the personal [...]

Real GDP last quarter grew slightly less than expected. At 0.7% (AR) growth was the weakest since 3Q01. Consensus expectations were for 1.0% growth. A slower rate of inventory accumulation subtracted from GDP growth for the first [...]

The index of mortgage applications, compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, surged 6.4% last week (117.3% y/y) following two consecutive weeks of moderate decline. Mortgage applications to refinance rose 7.8% (232.3% y/y) and [...]

Durable goods orders rose about as expected last month. The gain was slight and followed a sharp November decline that was little revised. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.5% rise. The rise in durable orders failed to match the [...]

With a 7% decline in Japanese exports and a 1% rise in imports, Japan’s trade surplus declined from 1,050.7 billion yen in November to 657.3 billion yen in December, a greater than expected decline. The strengthening yen since early [...]

The trade weighted value of the US dollar has fallen sharply during the last year, down 12.4% since year ago levels. In 2003 alone the dollar's value has shed 2.4%. The Euro has risen almost 20% against the US dollar during the last [...]

Volatile energy prices have dominated the inflation picture around the world but in Europe, core price inflation has been firm. Annual gains in prices less food and energy ran in excess of 2% during 2002, double the growth during 1999 [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose about as expected last week. Claims rose 5.0% from the prior week's level which was revised slightly higher. Last week's figure was for the January survey period for nonfarm payrolls. [...]