Economy in Brief: 2014

The euro area continues to struggle in September with its flash private sector gauge falling to 52.3 from 52.8 August. This is the lowest flash value for the index since December 2013. While the six-month average is still above the [...]

Sales of existing single-family homes declined 2.4% to 5.050 million (AR) during August (-5.3% y/y) from 5.140 million in July, last month reported as 5.150 million. Sales were 6.3% below the peak reached last July. The latest level [...]

Both Italian foreign and domestic orders fell in July. Foreign orders have fallen for three consecutive months. Domestic orders have fallen in two of the last three months. The trends in orders are not reassuring either. Italian [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) for August eased to -0.21 from a downwardly revised 0.26 in July. The latest level was the first negative reading since January. The three-month moving [...]

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators, from the Conference Board, gained 0.2% during August (6.8% y/y) following a revised 1.1% July rise. The latest improvement was the least since January's slight decline. The series was, [...]

Japan's economy is losing momentum again. Despite a pledge to get inflation back to 2% and an aggressive program of quantitative easing, the economy is losing momentum. The Japanese government downgraded its overall economic [...]

The Federal Reserve's financial accounts data (formerly known as the "flow of funds") for Q2 show total credit market borrowing at $2.32 trillion annual rate, up from $1.56 trillion in Q1. That earlier period is revised from $2.00 [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for September edged down to 22.5 from 28.0 in August. Despite the decline, the figure remained near the highest point since March 2011. It [...]