Economy in Brief: October 2017

Japan ran its 24th consecutive surplus on its trade account in September. The three-month moving average of the trade balance is beginning to recover after hovering in the 300 billion yen to 359 billion yen range from mid-2016 to [...]

U.K. unemployment statistics have been pointing to labor market strength for some time. There are various measures of labor market conditions, ranging from several unemployment rate definitions to the claimant count. According to all [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index rebounded 3.6% (-18.2% y/y) last week, but so far this month was down 3.1% from September. Purchase applications increased 4.2% (8.9% y/y) [...]

Total housing starts declined 4.7% (+6.1% y/y) during September to 1.127 million units from 1.183 million in August, revised from 1.180 million units. It was the lowest level since September 2016. Starts of 1.183 million had been [...]

German inflation year-to-date is at 1.8%. Among the original EMU members, that pace is exceeded only by Austria at 2.3%, Belgium and Luxembourg each at 2%, and Spain at 1.9%. Seven other of the original EMU member countries plus [...]

Retail gasoline prices eased last week to $2.49 per gallon (+10.3% y/y) versus $2.50 one week prior and remained lower than the $2.69 high early last month. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo increased 6.3% to 68 during October and reversed its September decline. As a result of this month's increase, the index was at the highest [...]

The Federal Reserve indicated that industrial production recovered 0.3% (1.6% y/y) during September following a 0.7% August decline, last month estimated as -0.9%. The Fed indicated that storm damage reduced September's increase in [...]