Economy in Brief: February 2020

U.K. CPIH inflation is moving higher in January, posting a sharp 0.5% gain in both the headline and the core. Over three months, the inflation rate is up. The year-over-year core rate is at 1.7% where it last was in November; it was [...]

Retail gasoline prices rose to $2.43 per gallon (4.8% y/y) in the week ended February 17 from $2.42 per gallon in the previous week. This followed five consecutive weeks of decline and the price compared to an early-May peak of $2.90 [...]

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that during the fourth quarter of last year, retail sales via the internet (E-Commerce) increased 2.6% (SA) from Q3. The gain followed a 4.6% Q3 rise, and was the weakest increase since Q4'18. [...]

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.5% (2.1% y/y) during January following a 0.2% rise, revised from 0.1%. A 0.1% gain had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Producer prices excluding food & [...]

Housing starts fell 3.6% m/m (+21.4% y/y) in January to 1.567 million units at an annual rate, giving back some of the outsized weather-aided 17.7% m/m jump in December (1.626 million units), which was revised up from a 16.9% m/m gain [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Application Index fell 6.4% w/w in the week ending on February 14. This was the first decline in four weeks. Compared to a year ago, applications were up 76.7%. Purchase [...]

The ZEW graph on macroeconomic expectations does not summarize the whole ZEW report, but it does provide a clear picture that offers a good overview. The data plot shows expectations for future macroeconomic conditions losing ground [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo fell slightly during February. The index level of 74 compared to 75 in January but remained up 19.4% y/y. It remained, however, near the [...]