Economy in Brief: February 2015

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that its February Composite index of factory sector activity remained negative at -11.2 following -4.4 in January. It was the first time that two months were successively negative in two [...]

Sales of existing homes fell 4.9% (+3.2% y/y) during January to 4.820 million (AR), following an unrevised 2.4% rise in December. Home sales were at the lowest point since April and disappointed consensus expectations for 5.00 million [...]

The Markit flash PMI data showed some strength in the EMU but less of it is in France and Germany with the services sector leading the way in both nations. The German Ifo shows much the same situation, agreeing with Markit, with [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) for January increased to 0.13 from a little-revised -0.07 in January. The three-month moving average remained fairly stable at a high 0.33. During the last [...]

The chart tells a clear story of what is going on in the EMU. The domestically oriented services portion of the economy is engaged in a rapid recovery and closing in on its cycle high reading, but the manufacturing sector in the EMU [...]

The industrial commodity price index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) improved slightly during the last five weeks following declines which total 13.1% during the last year. The crude oil & [...]

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators from the Conference Board increased 0.2% last month (6.5% y/y) following a 0.4% December gain, revised from 0.5%. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for February declined to 5.2 from 6.3 in January. The number was at the lowest point since February 2014 and below expectations [...]