Economy in Brief: February 2019

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell a greater-than-expected 1.2% in January (-8.5% year-on-year) to 4.940 million units (SAAR). This was the lowest reading since a regulatory-change-driven [...]

New orders for durable goods increased 1.2% (3.5% year-on-year) during December following an upwardly-revised 1.0% gain in November (this report was delayed as a result of the government shutdown). A 1.7% increase had been expected in [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported manufacturing conditions weakened considerably in February with its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index falling to -4.1 from 17.0 in January. This was the first reading below the [...]

The data rankings since January of 2015 show extremely weak readings for EMU, for Germany, for France and for Japan (MFG). On this time line the Markit manufacturing PMIs has percentile standings at or below their respective medians [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 216,000 in the week ended February 16, down 23,000 from the previous week's 239,000; that figure was unrevised. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 225,000 claims this week. [...]

The international growth scourge spreads its wings in January. Japan’s yen based exports fell by 6.6% in January as imports declined by 4.2% driving the trade balance to -Ą370bn. It is the largest monthly deficit since February of [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index rose 3.6% (-2.0% year-on-year) during the week ending February 15th. After double digit gains in early January, applications had fallen for the [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo improved to 62 during February after increasing to 58 in January. Nevertheless, the figure remained below the expansion high of 74 in [...]