Economy in Brief

• Seasonally adjusted initial claims in state programs edged up 4,000 in September 19 week to 870,000; not seasonally adjusted claims rose 29,000 to 825,000. • PUA program initial claims fell 45,074 to lowest in four weeks. • Insured [...]

• Expectations also weakened slightly. • Pricing power improved. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that their manufacturing sector business activity index fell to 11 in September after increasing to 14 in August. These [...]

• Seasonally adjusted initial claims in state programs edged up 4,000 in September 19 week to 870,000; not seasonally adjusted claims rose 29,000 to 825,000. • PUA program initial claims fell 45,074 to lowest in four weeks. • Insured [...]

• New single-family home sales increased to highest level since September 2006. • Sales improvement varied m/m across the country. • Prices weakened notably. Sales of new single-family homes increased 4.8% during August (43.2% y/y) to [...]

• FHFA home price index gains continue to improve. • Price increases are widespread across the country. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index strengthened 1.0% during July following a like increase in June, revised [...]

• Applications bounce back after prior week's decline. • Mortgage rates edge higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index increased 6.8% (57.8% y/y) in the week ended September 18 after declines in four of [...]

• Existing home sales improved last month to highest level since December 2006. • Sales strength continued to reflect gains across the nation. • Pricing power increased. The housing market remains on a firm footing. The National [...]

• Crude oil prices recover part of recent decline. • Gasoline prices edge lower. • Natural gas prices tumble. The price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil recovered to an average of $39.55 per barrel (-33.3% y/y) in the [...]