Economy in Brief: 2014

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) gained 0.4% during June (5.1% y/y) after a 0.2% May increase, revised from 0.4%. The latest increase was the strongest in three months but it left the 5.1% [...]

The U.K. services sector index for growth prospects turned lower in Q3, falling after nearly 2 years of improving trends. The CBI index is turned lower in the third quarter for both consumer and business and professional categories. [...]

New orders for durable goods surged 22.6% last month (33.8% y/y) following a 2.7% June gain, revised from 0.7%. A 5.5% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The increase reflected a 318% jump (474% y/y) in [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that its August Composite index covering Texas factory sector activity declined to 7.1 from 12.7 in July. The latest figure was the lowest since March. The deterioration reflected lower new [...]

Germany's Ifo climate index for August has fallen to 5.3 from 8.6 in July. The all-sector climate index is still relatively firm standing in nearly the 72nd percentile of its historic queue of ordered values. However, this standing [...]

The market for new homes hit a soft patch during the last two months. New home sales during July fell 2.4% (+12.3% y/y) to 412,000 following June's decline to 422,000, initially reported as 406,000. The figures compare to May's peak [...]

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its National Activity Index (CFNAI) for July increased to 0.39 from 0.21 in June, revised from 0.12. The latest level was its highest since March. The three-month moving average improved to [...]

The Federal Reserve has been reducing the growth in monetary liquidity. Three separate indicators suggest that the effort has been pervasive. 1) Money growth has been stable during the last several years and is down from its peak [...]