Economy in Brief: September 2014

Spain's real retail sales have slipped enormously since their peak back in 2007. In 2012 there was another sharp break lower in retail sales. However, from that point onward, Spain has built on that base and now there is a slight [...]

The third GDP estimate for Q2'14 indicated growth of 4.6% (AR), revised up from 4.2%. The gain followed a 2.1% Q1 decline and matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Improved estimates of growth in each major [...]

The German consumer climate reading has fallen for the second consecutive month, according to the GfK survey. The survey looks ahead to October and registers an 8.3 reading for climate, down from 8.6 in September. At this level, [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its September Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity recovered to 6 after falling sharply to 3 in August. The composite index is an average of the production, new [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims rebounded to 293,000 (-7.3% y/y) during the week ended September 20 from 281,000 in the prior week, revised from 280,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 300,000 claims in the latest [...]

New orders for durable goods fell back 18.2% during August (+8.9% y/y) following a 22.5% July surge, revised from 22.6%. The shortfall roughly matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Orders were pulled lower by a [...]

On the plus side of things, both EMU credit and money supply have begun to bend their growth rates higher. However, for money supply, growth is still weak. It remains below its feeble 2013 cycle peak. For credit, the growth rate has [...]

New home sales during August surged 18.0% (33.3% y/y) to 504,000 from a revised 427,000 in July, initially reported as 412,000. It was the highest level of sales since May 2008. The increase easily beat expectations for 430,000 sales [...]