Economy in Brief: 2011

Reported yesterday, the U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) increased slightly for the second month. The May index rose 0.4% after a 0.2% April uptick. The gain steadied the y/y decline at 6.3%. [...]

Mass layoffs in the U.S. during June fell and reversed the May increase. The Labor Department reported this morning that layoffs of 50 or more persons from a single firm fell 4.2% in June versus May following that month's 2.2% [...]

EMU orders surged by 3.6% in May after dropping by 0.1% in April, rising 0.4% in March, and rising 0.3% in February. After a period of some lethargy orders are back on track. Or are they? The 12-Mo, to 6-Mo to 3-Mo growth rates are [...]

The Conference Board reported that its Leading Economic Indicators index rose 0.3% last month following an unrevised 0.8% May increase. Consensus expectations were for a 0.2% rise in June. Despite the latest increases, three-month [...]

Like yesterday's Empire State Index, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's index of regional factory sector activity improved modestly, only the Philly number was positive while the Empire figure remained negative. The latest [...]

EMU PMIs are falling substantially and now sharply as well. The monthly drop in the Services index is the THIRD LARGEST of its history of 156 months (13years). For MFG it is the 17th largest monthly drop over the same span. For MFG [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims rose last week to 418,000 versus a revised 408,000 during the week prior, initially reported as 405,000. The Labor Department indicated that the latest figure reflected 1,750 initial claims due to [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported a further loss of strength in the housing market. Sales of existing homes during June slipped 0.8% to 4.770M from an unrevised 4.810M in May. The latest was weaker than Consensus [...]