Economy in Brief: 2018

Real gross domestic product increased 3.5% (AR, 3.0% y/y) during Q3'18 following a 4.2% rise in the second quarter. A 3.3% advance had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Supporting economic growth last quarter was [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity declined to 8 in October, the lowest level since December 2016. It remained down from the May high of 29. The ISM- [...]

The German IFO reading for October shows that the climate reading steps back to 18.7 from September's 21.3. The index has a standing at its 89.9 percentile at the border of the top 10% in its queue of historic readings. Clearly, [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales increased 0.5% in September (-1.0% y/y) following a little-revised 1.9% fall during August. The index level rose to 104.6 in September (2001=100) compared to [...]

New orders for durable goods increased 0.8% (7.9% y/y) during September following a 4.6% August jump, revised from 4.5%. A 1.9% decline had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The rise in orders was heavily [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 215,000 (-8.1% y/y) during the week ended October 20 from an unrevised 210,000 in the previous week. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a reading of 213,000. The four- [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index rose 4.9% (-15.6% y/y) in the week ending October 19 following declines during the prior two weeks. Purchase loan applications improved 2.0% (0.2% [...]

The market for new homes weakened sharply this year. New single-family home sales fell 5.5% (-13.2% y/y) during September to 553,000 (SAAR). It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline, pushing sales 13.1% below the high reached in [...]