Economy in Brief: December 2019

The U.S. current account deficit narrowed less than expected to $124.1 billion during Q3'19 from a downwardly-revised $125.2 bil. in Q2'19 (was $128.2 bil.). The Action Economics Forecast Survey anticipated a $122.1 bil. deficit. As a [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index declined to 0.3 during December following November's improvement to 10.4. It was the weakest reading in six months and still [...]

U.K. nominal retail sales are lower by 0.5% in November, marking their fourth straight decline month-to-month. With Brexit and a national election facing British citizens, they have been a bit slow on the uptake of Christmas spirit. [...]

The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (FIBER) increased 0.9% during the four weeks ended Friday and 0.8% over the last three months. The price index was down a [...]

The IFO climate gauge improved to -0.5 in December from -1.5 in November. This improvement pushed the percentile standing to its 50.4 percentile in December from the 47.1 percentile previously, in November. Still, the ranking over the [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Index declined 5.0% (+55.0% y/y) in the week ending December 13 after increasing 3.8% in the previous week. Applications to refinance a loan fell 6.5% (+135.4% y/y) [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate rose to 4.6% during October from an unrevised 4.4% in September. It remained, nevertheless, below the 4.8% record in January. The job openings rate is the job [...]

New home building remained strong during November. Housing starts increased 3.2% (13.6% y/y) to 1.365 million (SAAR) from 1.323 million in October, revised from 1.314 million. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected 1.346 [...]