Economy in Brief: January 2017

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo fell to 67 during January (+9.8% y/y) following a revised jump to 69 in December, initially reported as 70. It remained near the highest [...]

During all of 2016, industrial production improved 0.5%. In December alone, industrial output increased 0.8% following a 0.7% November decline, revised from -0.4%. The latest reading exceeded expectations for a 0.6% increase in the [...]

The Consumer Price Index during all of 2016 increased 2.1% from December-to-December, the quickest y/y gain since June 2014. The 2.2% advance in prices excluding food & energy compared to a 2.1% rise in 2015. During December alone, [...]

The chart features the year-on-year inflation result in the three largest EMU economies as well as the economy-weighted result for the EMU itself. Inflation is turning higher in each of the countries in the chart but at different [...]

Table 1 shows a sharp improvement in German current conditions and a rise in German expectations. The German current index has been better historically less than 7% of the time while expectations are better about 54% of the time. [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions for January continued to suggest positive economic conditions, though it eased to 6.5 in January from 7.6 in December. It was the third straight positive reading [...]

Every picture tells a story, don't it? Bad grammar? Yes, but a truism nonetheless. The chart on the left pictures the German and EMU current accounts as a percentage of GDP. Since late 2000, these values have been positive indicating [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.3% (1.6% y/y) during December after an unrevised 0.4% November rise. The rise matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of 2016, prices [...]