Economy in Brief: January 2018

German inflation trends have flattened out despite what has been a period of rapid increases in the oil price. Ex-energy inflation is flat and very mild while the headline PPI shows some of the impact of sharply rising oil prices (see [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index rose 4.1% last week (6.3% y/y) following an 8.3% rise during the prior week. Purchase loan applications rose 2.7% (8.6% y/y) following a 5.0% [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index declined to 22.2 during January from 27.9 in December. Expectations had been for a reading of 25.0 in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Expectations for sales and prices in the housing market have been slipping in the RICS survey of U.K. home prices and sales. December has brought an unexpected jump in prices, but price expectations continue to ratchet lower. Sales [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to 220,000 (+2.0% y/y) during the week ended January 13 following an unrevised 261,000 claims in the week prior. The latest reading was the lowest in 45 years. Expectations had been [...]

Total housing starts fell 8.2% (-6.0% y/y) during December to 1.192 million from 1.299 million in November, revised from 1.297 million. A level of 1.275 million starts had been expected in the Action Economic Forecast Survey. During [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo fell 2.7% (+7.5% y/y) to 72 during January following its 7.2% December surge. The decline matched expectations in the Informa Global Markets [...]

The Federal Reserve indicated that industrial production increased 0.9% (3.6% y/y) during December following a 0.1% dip in November, revised from +0.2%. A 0.4% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last [...]