Economy in Brief

• Existing home sales near 2006 high. • Inventory of unsold homes continues to fall sharply. • Sales remain mixed regionally. The market for previously owned homes remains strong. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported [...]

• • PREVIOUS>>>>>>>>>Import prices grew a greater-than-expected 0.9% during December (-0.3% year-on-year)...... PREVIOUS>>>>>>Export prices increased 1.1% in December (0.2% y/y)......... The import and export price series can be found [...]

While Belgian confidence ticked higher in February, it remains with a net negative reading and is still largely exceeded by all previous values from 2013 forward. Evaluated versus data since 1991, the Belgian confidence headline [...]

• Headline index reverses part of January's strength. • Movement amongst subindexes is mixed; employment strengthens. • Prices paid continue to rise. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Factory Sector Business Conditions Index [...]

• PREVIOUS>>>>Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 793,000 during the week ended February 6...... For more details, please see the September 3 commentary on jobless claims. Data on weekly unemployment claims going [...]

• Pandemic-related initial claims reach largest amount in almost five months. • Continuing claims in regular state programs continue downtrend. • Insured jobless rate unchanged. Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 13,000 in [...]

• Total starts back away from 2006 high. • Single-family housing starts are notably weak. • Building permits increase for third straight month. Strength in home building waned last month. Housing starts declined 6.0% (-2.3% y/y) [...]

• Import prices rose 1.4% in January with fuel prices up 7.4%. • Export prices increased 2.5%, the largest monthly increase in the series history. • Higher prices for industrial supplies were a key driver of the increases for both [...]