Economy in Brief: December 2013

After falling in October and November, consumer confidence recovered in December, picking up to 78.1 (SA, 1985=100) from November's 72.0, which is modestly revised from 70.4 reported initially. The Action Economics consensus expected [...]

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20- City Home Price Index rose 1.0% in both September and October, making the twelve-month increase 13.6%, its greatest since February 2006. The 3-month annualized rate of increase had slowed [...]

This is my last research report of 2013. In it I look ahead to 2014. The chart and table in this report provide a basis for thinking of the trends that are set in place as 2013 ends and projecting them into the year ahead. We have [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that November pending sales of single-family homes inched up 0.2% m/m, their first rise since May. They were off 1.5% from a year ago. Sales rose in two regions, the South and the [...]

There have only been a few months of sales increases. But Spain's retail sales are advancing and that is good news since sales have been falling year over year since 2007- almost without exception. Retail sales are up monthly for the [...]

As we wonder how much strength is built in the European Monetary Union, France is showing some rebound in PPI prices in November. However, price trends in France do not give us a clear picture of activity trends. Such associations are [...]

Korean consumer confidence continues to show progress. While the overall index flattened at 107 this month, it held the jump to 107 that it made in November from 106 in October. The rate of growth in overall sentiment at 3.9% (SAAR) [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to 338,000 last week following 380,000 in the week ended December 14, revised from 379,000. With the Thanksgiving-Christmas seasonality quirks, longer-term comparisons are perhaps more [...]