Economy in Brief: February 2016

Personal consumption expenditures strengthened 0.5% during January (4.2% y/y) after a 0.1% uptick, revised from little-change. It was the strongest rise since May. A 0.3% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Of the 25 reporting EU members for February, the comprehensive EU Commission indices deteriorated in all but three countries. Those three were Cyprus, Poland and Slovakia. Sector indices also weakened across the board with significant [...]

Economic growth slowed less than previously estimated last quarter. Gross domestic product grew at a 1.0% annual rate (1.9% y/y), up from the advance estimate of a 0.7% gain. Nevertheless, growth was half that in Q3 and down sharply [...]

Economic growth slowed less than previously estimated last quarter. Gross domestic product grew at a 1.0% annual rate (1.9% y/y), up from the advance estimate of a 0.7% gain. Nevertheless, growth was half that in Q3 and down sharply [...]

Germany's GfK consumer climate look-ahead gauge for March shows an unexpected increase of one tick to 9.5 from February's 9.4. In February, the gauge was flat with its economic component lower, income expectations strongly higher and [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims rebounded to 272,000 during the week ended February 20 following an unrevised decline during the prior week. The four-week moving average eased to 272,000, and remained near a two-month low. [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) increased 0.4% during December following a 0.6% November gain, revised from 0.5%. For all of 2015, prices increased a steady 5.7%. During the last three months, [...]

Factory sector activity is gaining strength. New orders for durable goods recovered 4.9% during January (1.8% y/y) following a 4.6% December decline, revised from -5.1%. A 2.4% increase had been expected in the Action Economics [...]