Weak march; weak trends Recent Italian data have been backtracking...big time. Today's retail sales report shows that nominal sales fell by 0.6% in March with real retail sales down by 0.8%. This is the first drop in real retail sales [...]
Global| May 26 2016
Italian Retail Sales Fall in March Amid Other Signs of Weakness
Global| May 26 2016
U.S. Durable Goods Orders' Strength Led by Civilian Aircraft; Capital Spending Weakens
New orders for durable goods jumped 3.4% during April (1.9% y/y) following a 1.9% March increase, revised from 0.8%. A 0.2% April gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Data were revised back to 2001. A 64.9% [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Global| May 26 2016
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Fall Again
Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 268,000 (-4.6% y/y) during the week ended May 21 from an unrevised fall to 278,000 during the prior week. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 275,000 claims. The four [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Global| May 25 2016
Germany Snaps Back- Bazinga Europe: You Don't!
Month-to-month the German Ifo gauge of industry has snapped back with its headline metric rising to 8.5 in May from 6.4 in April. The business situation index has advanced to 17.1 from 15.3. Expectations reversed course to rise to 0.2 [...]
Global| May 25 2016
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Increase
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 2.3% last week (24.2% y/y) following a 1.0 decline during the week prior. Purchase applications jumped 4.8% (16.6% y/y) and made up the [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Global| May 25 2016
U.S. FHFA Home Price Index Increase Firms
The U.S. House Price Index, from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), increased 0.7% (6.1% y/y) during March following a 0.5% gain during February, revised from 0.4%. It was the quickest rise in six months and improved the y/y [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Global| May 24 2016
U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Strengthen
Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.30 per gallon last week (-17.1% y/y) following two weeks of little change, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices were at the highest level since the first week of October. The price [...]
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Global| May 24 2016
Germany: ZEW Expectations Step Back
Unexpected step back for ZEW forward-looking metric The German ZEW index in May saw its expectations indicator fall sharply while the current index moved higher. The current reading is quite strong as it is stronger only 18% of the [...]
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