Economy in Brief: June 2018

All of the early-release IFO climate and aggregate metrics in the top portion of the table declined in June. All-sector climate fell, manufacturing climate fell, and construction climate fell. The current business situation index [...]

New single-family home sales increased 6.7% (14.1% y/y) to 689,000 (SAAR) during May following a 3.7% April decline to 646,000, revised from 662,000. Expectations had been for 680,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) slipped 0.5% during the last four weeks, but increased 12.7% during the last year. Industrial materials prices overall [...]

PMIs in June in the EMU area showed some respite from the steady decline in recent months. Services PMIs showed some recovery as manufacturing has continued to slip. The gain in services has been enough to boost the overall PMI gauge. [...]

The French manufacturing sector gives a steady signal in June but at a level that is off-peak. French services tick higher on the month. In general, the French indexes are moving in concert with those from Germany’s IFO index. Europe [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index retreated to 19.9 during June, its lowest level since November 2016. Expectations had been for a reading of 28.9 in the Action [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators improved 0.2% (6.1% y/y) during May after an unrevised 0.4% April rise, which was the same as during March. The latest monthly gain fell short of expectations for a [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 218,000 during the week ended June 16, down from 221,000 in the prior week, which was revised from 218,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey called for 221,000 claims [...]