Economy in Brief: August 2008

For the second month in a row, new orders for durable goods jumped 1.3%. Last month's increase was led by a surge in orders for commercial aircraft, and the June gain in total orders was upwardly revised. Consensus expectations had [...]

For the second month in a row, new orders for durable goods jumped 1.3%. Last month's increase was led by a surge in orders for commercial aircraft, and the June gain in total orders was upwardly revised. Consensus expectations had [...]

The IFO's measure of business confidence declined 2.8% in August after declining 3.7% in July and 2.1% in June. The index is now 10.6% below a year ago and, at 94.8 (2000=100), the lowest level since June, 2005. The overall measure is [...]

The index of U.S. house prices from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) was roughly unchanged in June and prices were down 4.8% from a year earlier.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 20 home price index during June fell 0.5% from May after a revised 0.9% drop during that month. Since the peak in July 2006 prices have fallen 18.8% and by 15.9% during the last twelve months. The series [...]

Sales new single-family homes in July rose 2.4% to 515,000. The increase, however, merely recovered a 2.1% fall during June which was deeper than estimated initially. The level of sales in July was down 62.9% from the July 2005 peak. [...]

The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence rose a surprising 9.6% this month after a moderate 1.8% July gain. The rise contrasted with Consensus expectations for just a modest increase. The increase was fueled by a 23.7% [...]

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, chain store sales ticked up 0.2% last week after the 0.1% rise during the week prior. So far in August sales are up 0.2% from the July average after that month's 0.5% rise.