Economy in Brief

• PUA initial claims decline in March 20 week. • Continuing claims in regular state programs reach lowest since mid-March 2020. • Insured jobless rate declines to lowest since pandemic set in. Initial claims for unemployment insurance [...]

• Activity remains 2.4% below Q4'19 peak. • Corporate earnings drop follows Q3 surge. • Business fixed investment led growth at yearend. Real GDP rose 4.3% (SAAR) during Q4'20 (-2.4% y/y), revised from 4.1%, following a record 33.4% [...]

The future course of consumer price inflation has been a hot topic of discussion in the financial media of late. On the one hand, there some analysts, myself included, who believe that higher inflation is on the way, and not just a [...]

The Markit PMI 'flash' readings for March show improvement and for the most part - strong improvement - all up and down the line. Japan is the sole exception with a small improvement month-to-month based on small improvements in both [...]

• Refinancing applications decline as mortgage interestrates rise. • Purchase applications rise further. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index declined 2.5% (-0.8% y/y) in the week ended March 19, the sixth [...]

• Fall in orders is broad-based and likely reflects severe winter weather. • Orders of core capital goods reverse January gain. • Shipments weaken but order backlogs & inventories rise. Manufacturers' orders for durable goods declined [...]

The U.K. CBI industrial trends survey shows a sharp improvement in orders in March. The total order reading jumped to -5 from February’s -24 as its sequential averages echoed the ongoing improvement in the sector. With that jump in [...]

• Sales decline across the country. • Median house prices ease. Harsh winter weather throughout the country kept many potential home buyers indoors last month. Sales of new single-family homes declined 18.2% (+8.2% y/y) during [...]