Economy in Brief: March 2013

France's household confidence according to the INSEE statistical agency fell by two points in March to a level of 84 from a level of 86 in February. At its March level confidence stands at about the 7th percentile in its historic [...]

Following its strength in 2012, consumer confidence has trended lower versus the October high. The Conference Board's March Consumer Confidence Index retreated to 59.7 following a downwardly revised February reading of 68.0. Consensus [...]

New home sales slipped 4.6% (+12.3% y/y) last month to 411,000 (AR). That compared to a downwardly revised gain to 431,000 sales during January. Consensus expectations had been for sales of 424,000. Sales declined m/m throughout most [...]

The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller 20 City Home Price Index increased 1.0% (8.1% y/y) during January after a 0.9% December gain. The last two monthly increases were the strongest since the spring of last year. Home prices in the [...]

Total durable goods orders during February rebounded 5.7% (3.8% y/y) following a 3.8% January decline, revised from -5.2%. A 3.7% rise had been expected. Last month's recovery was led by a 21.7% rebound (9.4% y/y) in transportation [...]

Consumer Confidence in Italy sees handwriting on the wall - Italy's consumer confidence measure in March as measured by ISAE, the Italian statistical agency, shows a drop in the reading to 85.2 from 86.0 in February. January had [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its February National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to 0.44 from a downwardly revised -0.49 in January. Smoothing out the m/m volatility, the three-month moving average deteriorated to 0.09, its [...]

Germany's widely respected IFO business climate index turned slightly lower unexpectedly in March. Rising confidence abated, business expectations took a small setback and the climate cooled. The table chronicles a sector diffusion [...]