Economy in Brief

The table below pools the data from four different reports to create a picture of how Japan is doing. The pictures all are painted in the same dark colors. The orders data are fresh today even though they lag the data in other surveys [...]

• Crude oil prices show further strength. • Metals and lumber prices jump. The upturn in factory sector activity continues to support industrial materials prices. A 3.3% jump in July industrial output helped lift the Industrial [...]

• Mortgage demand wavers. • Applications to refinance an existing loan decline while purchase applications rise. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index fell 3.3% (+34.3% y/y) during the [...]

German employment growth took the expected hard hit in Q2 as jobs contracted at a 5.3% annual rate quarter-to-quarter. The year-over-year change is a drop of 1.3%. Clearly, the impact of the virus on employment levels has been [...]

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that during the second quarter of this year, retail sales via the internet (E-Commerce) rose 31.8% (SA) from Q1'20. The gain followed increases of 2.4% in Q1 and a 2.2% Q4'19 rise. This strength [...]

• Housing activity continues to recover following coronavirus shutdown. • Building permits hit six-month high. Improved activity in the housing sector continues to lead the economy out of recession. Housing starts strengthened 22.6% [...]

• Gasoline prices unchanged. • Crude oil prices edged up. • Natural gas prices rise to highest level since December 2019. Regular gasoline prices were unchanged at $2.17 per gallon (-16.6% y/y) in the week ended August 17. Prices have [...]

• Housing market activity continues to strengthen. • Number of prospective buyers posts a new record. • Strength is broad-based regionally. The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo [...]