Economy in Brief: October 2014

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 6.6% last week (-20.2% y/y) following three week's of improvement. Applications to refinance an existing loan fell 7.4% (-22.4% y/y) [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated that labor market improvement, moderate growth in household spending and positive business investment growth allowed for ending its asset purchase program, [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 6.6% last week (-20.2% y/y) following three week's of improvement. Applications to refinance an existing loan fell 7.4% (-22.4% y/y) [...]

France's household opinion survey for October saw its household indicator at a level of 85, the same value as in September. In fact, 85 is the three-month average, the six-month average and the 12-month average. At a level of 85, the [...]

The Conference Board reported that their reading of consumer confidence surged to 94.5 this month (30.5% y/y) from 89.0 in September, revised from 86.0. The latest figure was the highest since October 2007 and easily surpassed [...]

The cost of a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $3.060 per gallon last week (-7.2% y/y) from $3.12 during the prior week, its least expensive price since December 2010. To account for seasonal patterns, Haver Analytics constructs [...]

New orders for durable goods declined 1.3% during September (+3.3% y/y) following a little-revised 18.3% August slump. The decline disappointed expectations for a 0.7% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. It was exacerbated [...]

Italy's business confidence rose unexpectedly in October. The Index advanced to 96.0 from September's 95.5 and was last higher in July 2014. The index of business confidence stands in the 32nd percentile of its historic rank, meaning [...]