Economy in Brief: 2015

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index declined 8.9% this month (+0.7% y/y) to 90.9 from 99.8 in June, revised from 101.4. It was the lowest reading since last September and missed expectations for 100.0 in the Action [...]

Italy's economy is still under a great deal of pressure. While it has a large number of people wanting work, the number looking for work (a key ILO statistic to be considered unemployed) has dropped off sharply. It is not surprising [...]

WTI crude oil costs dropped sharply last week to an average $49.30 per barrel (-52.8% y/y), down from last month's high of $60.07. Yesterday, prices declined further to $47.39 per barrel. These prices compare to a June 2014 high of [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicated that Texas business conditions improved through this month. The overall business activity index rebounded to its highest level since January while production strengthened to the firmest [...]

Year-over-year trends show both EMU money and credit on better growth paths after a lull from late-2011 to late-2013 for credit and from 2013 to mid-2014 for money. But the growth rates from the table of one year or less tell a story [...]

New orders for durable goods surged 3.4% during June (-2.8% y/y) following a 2.1% May decline, earlier reported as -1.8%. The increase compared to expectations for a 3.1% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last month's gain [...]

New home sales during June declined 6.8% to 482,000 following a revised 1.1% May drop to 517,000, initially reported as 546,000. April sales also were revised lower to 523,000 from 534,000. Sales were at the lowest level since [...]

The services sector continues to lead in terms of the value of the PMI in the EMU, Germany and France. And that goes a long way to explaining why Europe's recovery is still so weak with no fire under it. In July 2015, the EMU overall [...]