Economy in Brief: 2014

Canada's retail sales are hopping. Sales rose by 1.1% in June after rising 0.9% in May and 1.3% in April. Sales are accelerating at a 14% annual rate over three months, an 8.6% annual rate over six months, and a 5.9% annual rate over [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for August jumped to 28.0 from 23.9 in July. The figure was at the highest point since March 2011 and it exceeded consensus expectations for a [...]

The index of leading economic indicators is beginning to accelerate. The three-month growth rate is 7.4% at an annual rate. Over the previous three months, it grew at a 2.0% annual rate. Over 12 months, it is growing at a 5.9% annual [...]

Sales of existing single-family homes strengthened 2.4% to 5.150 million (AR) during July from 5.030 million in June, last month reported as 5.040 million. Sales were at the highest level since last September, but nevertheless [...]

The flash PMI for the European Monetary Union in August slipped once again to 52.8 from 54.0 in July. The index is back to where was in June. The manufacturing index, which had been stable at 51.9 in June and July, has dropped to 50.8 [...]

Initial claims for jobless insurance during the week ended August 16 eased to 298,000 from 312,000 in the prior week, revised from 311,000. The latest figure compared to expectations for 300,000 claims in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Industrial orders in the U.K. saw the net order gauge rise to 11 in August, back to its June level. This is not just the strongest reading since June; it's a reading that has been surpassed historically only 1% of the time. The [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index improved 1.4% last week (-24.0% y/y) after the prior week's 2.7% decline. Applications remained two-thirds below the peak in September 2012. [...]