Economy in Brief: 2008

Last week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 20,000 from the previous week's cycle high of 498,000, which was a level revised up slightly.The four-week moving average also moved to a new high for this cycle of 482,500 [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that during August pending sales of existing homes rose 7.4% and reversed the July decline of 2.7% which was revised slightly shallower from the initial report. The August rise compared to [...]

German New Orders and retail sales rose unexpectedly in August. So the August rise in IP of 3.4% is less of a surprise than it otherwise would be. There is a growing consensus that the timing of holidays has had a lot to do with the [...]

At an emergency meeting, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1.5%. The move was an action coordinated with the Central Banks of Europe and Japan. The Fed indicated that "the move [...]

At an emergency meeting, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1.5%. The move was an action coordinated with the Central Banks of Europe and Japan. The Fed indicated that "the move [...]

During August, consumer credit outstanding dropped as it never has before. The $7.9 billion m/m decline was by far the largest in the series' postwar history. On a percentage basis, credit outstanding did fall a more moderate 0.3%, [...]

With calls for lower interest rates in the Euro Area, the United States and the United Kingdom and yesterday's steep cut of one percent in Australia's base rate, the action of the Bank Indonesia in raising its key interest rate [...]

The German economy shows some resilience in its factory sector in August as orders reverse a string of eight months of declines to rise by 3.6% in August. Overall and foreign orders had previously each fallen for eight months in a [...]