Economy in Brief: June 2018

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer increased to 64.1 during June from May's unrevised 62.7. It was the highest level since January, continuing its sharply rising trend during the last three years. The Action Economics [...]

For the second time in approximately one year, EMU area and large country inflation rates (HICP definition; year-over-year) are pushing up to, through, or over the key 2% mark (the ECB’s inflation objective is for inflation ‘a little [...]

Personal consumption expenditures improved 0.2% (4.6% y/y) during May following a 0.5% April increase, revised from 0.6%. It was the weakest rise since a slight decline in February. A 0.4% gain had been expected in the Action [...]

U.S. economic growth in Q1'18 moderated slightly more than earlier estimates. Real gross domestic product grew at a 2.0% annual rate, revised from 2.2% reported last month and 2.3% estimated initially. The rise followed 2.9% growth [...]

The European Commission indexes of economic activity for June continued to erode at the pace of oxidation. In three months the headline index has lost only 0.5 points, but it has declined in each month. Only two of the five sector [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 227,000 during the week ended June 23, an increase of 9,000 from the 218,000 of the prior week; that earlier figure was unrevised. The Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for [...]

U.S. economic growth in Q1'18 moderated slightly more than earlier estimates. Real gross domestic product grew at a 2.0% annual rate, revised from 2.2% reported last month and 2.3% estimated initially. The rise followed 2.9% growth [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index fell 4.9% last week (-12.5% y/y), following a 5.1% increase during the prior week. The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage was [...]