Economy in Brief: August 2018

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index increased 4.2% last week (-16.1% y/y) following five consecutive weeks of decline. The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage was little- [...]

U.K. order books continue to hold ground, according to the industrial trends survey issued by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Their net position slipped in August to 7 from 11 in July and 13 in June. Their August level is [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level increased to 41.1 during August, the highest reading since June 2015. A slightly lessened 51 percent [...]

Retail gasoline prices fell to $2.82 per gallon last week from $2.84 during the prior week. Despite recent declines, prices remained up 19.5% y/y. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for the marked seasonal variation in [...]

Inflation trends in Germany continue to move up toward or to the 2% mark. And 2% is a micro-step over the line to Germans and to the ECB. The German CPI has just got to that mark while the ex-energy CPI continues to pace at a good [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) fell 3.7% last month and extended the retreat in prices since the peak two months ago. The decline left the index [...]

The EMU inflation picture has begun to get dicey with headline inflation at or above 2% for two months running and the core rate (excluding food and energy) running at a pace closer to 1%. Even Alice in Wonderland did not have it so [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.6% (6.3% y/y) during July. The improvement followed an unrevised 0.5% June gain and an upwardly revised 0.1% uptick. A 0.4% increase had been expected [...]