Economy in Brief: 2003

The index of mortgage applications compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association dropped 6.9% last week. It was the fifth consecutive weekly decline. During that period applications have fallen 36.9%. Last week's decline was due to [...]

Consumer confidence in Italy increased in April for the third successive month. The increases, however, have made only a slight dent in the erosion of confidence that took place in 2002. On a seasonally adjusted basis the index was up [...]

Chain store sales in the week leading up to Easter surged 1.9% according to the BTM-UBSW survey. The rise followed a 1.3% gain the prior week. Sales so far in April are 0.1% above the March average. March sales finished 0.3% above [...]

The Conference Board reported that the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2% last month, as expected. The prior month's previously reported decline was revised slightly deeper. Gains amongst the leaders' component [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance last week were much higher than Consensus expectations for 415,000. Claims rose 7.3% w/w to 442,000 and reversed virtually all of the prior period's decline. Claims in the prior week were [...]

The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) rose slightly less than Consensus expectations for a 0.4% rise. The 0.3% increase again was boosted by higher energy prices. The CPI less food and energy was unchanged for the first month since [...]

Industrial production declined in February in Germany and Italy and decelerated in France. The slowdown in activity in three of the major Euro-zone countries even before the outbreak of war in Iraq, which began on March 20th, suggests [...]

Industrial production fell unexpectedly by 0.5% last month. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.2% decline. The preliminary report that output rose slightly in February was revised to show a slight decline. Despite these declines, [...]