Economy in Brief: April 2013

Unemployment remains high in the European Monetary Union. As of February the rate is 12% the same as in January both figures are up from December's 11.8%. In the EU unemployment rates have snaked up to 10.9% from 10.8% in January and [...]

The index of Leading Economic Indicators, published by the Conference Board, ticked 0.1% lower (+1.7% y/y) during March following unrevised 0.5% increases during the prior two months. One-half of the component series had a positive [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 352,000 (-9.0% y/y) during the week ended April 13 from a revised 348,000 during the prior week, initially reported as 346,000. Consensus expectations were for 345,000 claims. The four [...]

The index of total mortgage applications from the Mortgage Banker Association increased 4.8% (19.4% y/y) last week. The rise was led by a 5.2% gain (19.0% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing loan. Home purchase mortgage [...]

Commodity prices are quite sensitive to changes in the economic environment, and the latest signals suggest softening forward momentum. Yesterday's industrial commodity price index, from the Foundation for International Business and [...]

European car registrations continue to be very weak. Short term trends show some lift. But year-over-year trends are lower by 10.3%. The smoothed, 3-month average trend shows a drop of nearly 12% over 12-months and shows less [...]

Industrial production rose 0.4% during March following a 1.1% February increase, earlier reported as a 0.7% rise. A 0.2% gain had been expected in the Action Economics survey. The gain in overall output reflected a 5.4% rise (10.4% [...]

Total housing starts jumped to 1,036M (AR) last month from 968,000 in February, initially reported as 917,000. Expectations had been for 930,000 starts in the Action Economics survey of economists. It was the highest level since June [...]