Economy in Brief

The French INSEE survey shows a reduction in the industry climate gauge in October as that gauge drops to 93.4 from 94.5 in September marking the first decline after five straight months of expansion. This basic table, which I use [...]

• Existing home sales rise to highest level since May 2006. • Supply of unsold homes reaches record low, lifting prices. • Sales strengthened across the country. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of [...]

• Leading index rises 0.7% in September. • Coincident indicators up just 0.2%, suggesting slowing growth. • Coincident measure jumped at a 25.0% annual rate in Q3; base effects play an important role as June-to-September growth is at [...]

• Purchase applications continue to decline. • Mortgage interest rates rise slightly. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index eased 0.6% (+54.3% y/y) in the week ended October 16, about the same as during the [...]

Sequential U.K. inflation (from 12-months to six-months to three-months) has no clear trends, but its profile remains in a low band of outcomes ranging between a pace of 1% and 0.1%. Core inflation (also excluding tobacco and alcohol) [...]

• Purchase applications continue to decline. • Mortgage interest rates rise slightly. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index eased 0.6% (+54.3% y/y) in the week ended October 16, about the same as during the [...]

German PPI trends continue to be weak and show prices declines when expressed as year-over-year changes. The German PPI now has eight monthly declines in a row logged for its year-over-year PPI change. The year-on-year drops was [...]

• Single-family home building increases to highest level since June 2007. • Permits to build single-family units jump, while multi-family permits drop. Housing starts rose 1.9% (11.1% y/y) in September to 1.415 million units (SAAR) [...]