Economy in Brief: March 2013

Personal income jumped 1.1% last month (2.6% y/y) after a little-revised 3.7% January decline. The rise easily outpaced consensus expectations for a 0.7% increase. Last month's outsized gain in overall income stemmed from a 2.0% rise [...]

Improvement in income is encouraging consumers to keep spending. Personal income jumped 1.1% last month (2.6% y/y) after a little-revised 3.7% January decline. The rise easily outpaced consensus expectations for a 0.7% increase. Last [...]

Money and credit growth in the European Monetary Union continue to be disappointing. Money supply growth over 12 months is at a 4.3% annual rate while over three months it has slipped to a 3.5% annual rate. On unchanged velocity it is [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance rose to 357,000 during the week ended March 23 from 341,000 during the prior week (revised from 336,000). Consensus expectations were for 340,000 claims. This latest claims figure was the highest [...]

Economic growth last quarter just didn't amount to much, revisions confirm. The Commerce Department's second revision of Q4'12 growth indicated an annualized rise of 0.4% (1.7% y/y) following last month's estimate of a 0.1% uptick. [...]

Pending sales of single-family homes slipped 0.4% (+8.5% y/y) last month after a 3.8% January rise, revised from 4.5%, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The sales rebound in the aftermath of the removal in 2010 [...]

The EU Commission index for the European Union fell from a level of 92 in February to 91.4 in March 2013. The industrial sector index fell to a net reading of -11.8 from -10.9. Consumer confidence was unchanged at -21.6. The retailing [...]

The housing market remains firm. The index of total mortgage applications increased 7.7% (24.1% y/y) last week and reversed the prior week's decline, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Home purchase applications posted a [...]