Economy in Brief: 2017

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo increased 6.3% to 68 during October and reversed its September decline. As a result of this month's increase, the index was at the highest [...]

The Federal Reserve indicated that industrial production recovered 0.3% (1.6% y/y) during September following a 0.7% August decline, last month estimated as -0.9%. The Fed indicated that storm damage reduced September's increase in [...]

Import prices increased 0.7% during September (2.7% y/y) following an unrevised 0.6% August increase. The September increase compared to a 0.6% rise expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures are not seasonally [...]

Imports continue to grow faster than exports in the EMU which has been the case since late-2016. Yet, the surplus is barely changed from 12 months ago. The greater import (compared to export) growth tends to drive the surplus lower [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 1.7% during the last four weeks and gained 14.3% during the last twelve months. During all of last year, [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions for October rose to 30.2 following its slip to 24.4 during September. The latest level was the highest since September 2014 and continued to indicate expansion in [...]

The British Chamber of Commerce quarterly survey features separate readings on the manufacturing and service sectors. We feature the manufacturing and services data in the table but the chart only the manufacturing data. If I use [...]

The Consumer Price index increased 0.5% (2.2% y/y) during September following a 0.4% August gain. It was the strongest increase since January and compared to expectations for a 0.6% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]