Economy in Brief: October 2013

The German Ifo index has slowed over the past three months. We present the diffusion indices for the sectors and the overall measures in the table, but the Ifo also presents these measures as indices. The business climate index has, [...]

Consumer sentiment, as measured in the Reuters/University of Michigan survey, continues to move lower. It fell sharply during October to a reading of 73.2 (-11.4% y/y). That compares to 75.2 at mid-month and 77.5 during September. [...]

New orders for durable goods strengthened by 3.7% last month (7.4% y/y) following a little-revised 0.2% August uptick. The latest figure was double expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Orders for nondefense aircraft & [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its August Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the job openings rate rose to 2.8%, up from July but about where it's been all year. The job openings rate is the number of job [...]

The status of the job market remains unclear. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 350,000 (-5.9% y/y) during the week ended October 19 from 362,000 during the prior week, initially reported as 358,000. In coming weeks, [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit totaled $38.8 billion in August compared to a revised $38.6 billion during July, initially reported as $39.1 billion. A $39.3 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics survey. Exports [...]

The EMU PMI from Markit this month shows a set back to the pace of improvement in the euro area. Manufacturing is doing a bit better, rising to a diffusion reading of 51.3 in October from 51.1 in September. That is an improvement, but [...]

Home prices continue moving higher, although the rate of gain slipped this summer. The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) rose 0.3% during August following a 0.8% July increase. The increase was [...]