Economy in Brief

The Autodata Corporation reported that in January, US light vehicle sales rose 2.7% from December to 17.64M units. Consensus expectations had been for a decline to 16.3M. The surprise stemmed from a 25.7% (23.9% y/y) rise in sales of [...]

The State Committee of the Russian Federation reported GDP data today for the year 2005. Total GDP expanded 6.4% for the year as a whole. Assuming there are no meaningful revisions to the first three quarters of the year, the year-to- [...]

During the last week of January, the total number of mortgage applications reversed most of the prior week's increase with a 5.1% decline. Nevertheless, because of increases during the first three weeks of the month, mortgage [...]

The value of construction put in place increased a firm 1.0% in December, double the upwardly revised November rise. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% gain. Residential building rose a sharp 1.0% following little change in [...]

For January, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) reported that the Composite Index of activity in the manufacturing sector eased to 54.8 from an upwardly revised level of 55.6 in December. It was the third consecutive monthly [...]

For January, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) reported that the Composite Index of activity in the manufacturing sector eased to 54.8 from an upwardly revised level of 55.6 in December. It was the third consecutive monthly [...]

Economic sentiment in the European Union, and particularly the Euro Zone is improving. The Business Climate Indicator (long-term average = 100) for the individual countries of the European Union, together with the aggregates for the [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the target interest rate for Federal funds was raised 25 basis points to 4.50%, the fourteenth increase since June of 2004. The unanimous decision was widely expected by [...]