Economy in Brief: 2014

Pending sales of single-family home sales declined 1.0% last month (-2.2% y/y) following a 3.2% July increase, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales were nearly at the highest level since last August. Home [...]

Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.5% during August (4.1% y/y) following an unchanged July reading, revised from -0.1%. The rise matched the strongest gain since a 0.8% March increase. A 0.4% increase had been expected in [...]

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 [...]