Economy in Brief: August 2018

In July, Japan's headline inflation was up by a strong 0.3% but balanced by a 0.1% gain in the CPI excluding food and energy (core). The headline gain followed a weak 0.1% June rise while the core gain followed an even weaker 0.1% [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 1.7% (+9.2% y/y) during July following a 0.7% June increase, revised from 1.0%. An unchanged level of orders had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. A 5.3% decline (+11.8% y/y) in [...]

The EMU PMIs have been falling over the last six months, but in August the indexes are stabilizing on very minor technical rebounds. The EMU manufacturing PMI fell to 54.6 in August from 55.1 in July as the services PMI posted a [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity declined to 14 in August, the lowest level since December. It remained down from the high of 29 three months ago. The [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases rose 0.2% in June (6.5% y/y), following a 0.4% increase in May, which was revised from 0.2%. Over the last three months, the index was up at a 3.2% annual rate. [...]

The market for new homes varied greatly last month. New single-family home sales declined 1.7% (+12.8% y/y) during July to 627,000 (AR) after a 2.4% June fall to 638,000, revised from 631,000. It remained the lowest level of sales [...]

The job market remains firm. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 during the week ended August 18 from an unrevised 212,000 the week earlier. It was the lowest reading in five weeks. The Action Economics Forecast [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during July moved 0.7% lower (-1.5% y/y) to 5.340 million (AR), following an unrevised 5.380 million during June. It was the fourth consecutive month of [...]