Economy in Brief: 2004

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 37,000 last week to 335,000 after a revised 21,000 jump the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for a more moderate decline to 355,000 claims. Hurricane Jeanne made landfall on [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 37,000 last week to 335,000 after a revised 21,000 jump the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for a more moderate decline to 355,000 claims. Hurricane Jeanne made landfall on [...]

Press reports this morning bemoan what they describe as a disappointing outturn for German factory orders in August. Total orders were indeed off 1.5% from July (seasonally adjusted in 2000 prices), with domestic demand down 1.0% and [...]

The index of mortgage applications compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association was stable last week with the prior period, but started October 4.1% ahead of the September average. Applications to refinance rose 2.7% w/w. They began [...]

The index of mortgage applications compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association was stable last week with the prior period, but started October 4.1% ahead of the September average. Applications to refinance rose 2.7% w/w. They began [...]

Unemployment in Germany continues to rise. According to the national definition, the unemployment rate rose to 10.7% in September, up 0.1 percentage point from August and 0.2 percentage points from September, 2003. The rate, which has [...]

Chain store sales rebounded a modest 0.3% last week following two weeks of pounding by hurricanes, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS. Sales began October 0.4% below the September average which fell [...]

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that announced job cuts surged 45.5% in September following moderate gains in four of the prior five months. The increase to 107,863 was to the highest level since January. The three month moving [...]