Economy in Brief: August 2020

• Deterioration in confidence measures widespread. • Current conditions reverse July improvement. • Younger people see largest decline in confidence. The Conference Board's monthly consumer confidence survey showed another decline in [...]

• New single-family home sales increased 13.9% m/m in July, up 58% from their April low and well above expectations. • Sales fell in the Northeast but rose in the other three regions, notably in the Midwest. • Prices were mixed. Sales [...]

• FHFA home price index increases 0.9% in June after declining 0.2% in May (only COVID-related decrease). • Eight out of nine regions show price gains. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index jumped 0.9% in June, [...]

• Gasoline prices edged up but have been range-bound since late June. • Crude oil prices rose for third consecutive week to highest level since early March. • Natural gas prices jumped up to highest level since November 2019. Regular [...]

Finland's aggregate export and import price indexes have tracked one another closely over the past decade. Over the past five years the terms of trade (ratio of export prices to import prices) have fallen by 0.1% at an annual rate. [...]

• Activity index declines to 1.18 in July. • Production and income indicators led the gain. Sales, orders and inventories decline. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index decreased to 1.18 in July from an [...]

The flash PMIs from Markit show a widespread step back in August from the surge made in July. Of course, the gain in PMI values, accomplished in July, remain mostly in place. But the backtracking in the month-to-month gain casts doubt [...]

• Existing home sales rose last month to highest level since December 2006. • Sales strength was broad-based across the nation. • Pricing power picked up. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of existing [...]