Economy in Brief: October 2017

U.K. orders fell to -2 in October from a level of 7 in September, dropping into negative territory (the number of firms saying orders are expanding is lower than the number that is saying orders are contracting). But the -2 reading is [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that in FY'17 the federal government ran a $665.7 billion budget deficit compared to a $585.6 billion deficit in FY'16. During September alone, the surplus of $8.0 billion compared to a $33.4 [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose 0.7% (-1.5% y/y) during September to 5.390 million units (SAAR) after an unrevised 1.7% decline to 5.350 million in August. Despite the rise, sales [...]

In the short run, oil prices drive a lot of the changes in Germany's PPI. Over the past three months, Brent prices have been steady rising and that has passed on an impact for rising prices to the PPI. While the German headline PPI is [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for October increased to 27.9 after a rise to 23.8 during September. The figure remained up sharply versus the 2015 low and compared [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators eased 0.2% (+4.0% y/y) during September following an unrevised 0.4% August increase. A 0.1% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Three- [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 222,000 during the week ended October 14 following a decline to 244,000 in the prior week. The Labor Department indicated that insurance applications were "severely disrupted" in [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index for October increased to 27.9 after a rise to 23.8 during September. The figure remained up sharply versus the 2015 low and compared [...]