Economy in Brief: May 2019

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index gained 2.4% (15.4% y/y) during the week ending May 17. The rise was driven by an 8.3% jump (31.1% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing loan, [...]

The Bank of England makes monetary policy off the CPIH, which is the CPI measure inclusive of a measure of housing costs. This measure puts the U.K. on the same footing as the U.S. with its inflation measures and is unlike the EMU [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index gained 2.4% (15.4% y/y) during the week ending May 17. The rise was driven by an 8.3% jump (31.1% y/y) in applications to refinance an existing loan, [...]

The CBI orders fell sharply in May and were last weaker in October 2016. That observation is an outlier. But from October 2015 through April 2016, orders were persistently weaker than their current reading. Export orders fell more [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level fell to 28.1 during May after rising slightly in April. These figures remain below the high of 45.7 [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during April eased 0.4% (-4.4% y/y) to 5.190 million units (SAAR) after an unrevised March decline to 5.210 million. It was the lowest level of sales in three [...]

Retail gasoline prices eased another two cents last week to $2.85 per gallon (-2.4% y/y) after falling slightly during the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its National Activity index fell to -0.45 during April after rising to 0.05 in March. Continuing to decline was the three-month moving average to -0.32, its lowest point since May [...]