Economy in Brief: September 2015

Italian consumer confidence rose sharply to 112.7 in September from 109.3 in August. The monthly change in confidence marks a substantial rise that has been larger only 15 times in the last 248 months, making it a top 7% event. The [...]

Real economic activity grew at a revised 3.9% annual rate in the second quarter (2.7% y/y) versus last month's estimate of 3.7% and the initial estimate of a 2.3% rise. This compares to a 0.6% Q1 advance, which was restrained by [...]

French consumer sentiment increased to 97 in September from 94 in August, up from its 12-month average of 92. Still, the index sits only in the 50.2 percentile of its historic queue of data. That leaves it just a smidgen above its [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) during August collapsed to -0.41 after jumping to 0.51 in July, revised from 0.34. Ironing out this volatility was the three-month moving average which [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims rose to 267,000 (-8.4% y/y) during the week ended September 19 from an unrevised 264,000 during the prior week. The four week moving average of claims was little-changed at 271,750. The Action [...]

New home sales during August climbed 5.7% last month to 552,000 units (SAAR) from 522,000 during July, revised from 507,000. It was the highest level of sales since February 2008. Sales of 515,000 were expected in the Action Economics [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 2.0% (-1.9% y/y) during August following a 1.9% July increase, revised from 2.0%. The decline matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During the last ten years, there has been an [...]

The German Ifo index showed improvement in September in three of its four sector indices. Current conditions eroded, but expectations improved. The index had been expected to weaken in the month. Instead, the Ifo index rose. The [...]