Economy in Brief: March 2019

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell back to 58.7 in March after having surged to 64.7 in February. The February reading had been the highest since December 2017. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a [...]

Germany's retail sales unexpectedly rose sharply in February after a solid rebound in January. Year-over-year retail sales rise by 5.5% and they are rising at a 7.7% annual rate in the quarter-to-date. Real retail sales also have a [...]

The housing market has been exhibiting strength recently. New home sales increased 4.9% (0.6% y/y) during February to 667,000 (SAAR) from 636,000 in January, revised from 607,000. December sales also were revised up. It was the [...]

Personal consumption expenditures improved 0.1% (3.7% y/y) during January following a 0.6% December decline, revised from -0.5%. The gain fell short of a 0.3% rise expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The Commerce [...]

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell back to 58.7 in March after having surged to 64.7 in February. The February reading had been the highest since December 2017. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 9,000 in the week ended March 16 to 221,000.... Continuing claims for unemployment insurance fell in the week ended March 9 to 1.750 million ... Data on weekly unemployment claims going [...]

The EU Commission Index for the EMU fell to a steeper-than-expected 105.5 in March from 106.2 in February. The fall takes the headline index down to a 69.9 percentile queue standing among its historic results, a moderate but firm [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales declined 1.0% (-4.9% y/y) during February following a 4.3% gain, revised from 4.6%. Sales have declined 9.7% since the peak in April 2016. Sales were mixed [...]