Economy in Brief: June 2014

Housing starts during May declined 6.5% to 1.001 million (+8.0% y/y from 1.071 million in April, revised from 1.072 million. The latest figure fell short of expectations for 1.028 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Germany's ZEW current conditions reading rose to 67.7 in June from 62.1 in May. The June current conditions reading is higher only about 9.4% of the time. On the other hand, the expectations reading fell significantly to 29.8 from [...]

Consumer prices increased 0.4% (2.1% y/y) in May, the largest increase since February 2013. The reading easily beat consensus expectations for a 0.2% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Consumer prices excluding food and [...]

Industrial output in the U.S. increased 0.6% last month (4.3% y/y) following a 0.3% April decline, revised from -0.6%. A 0.5% gain in total production was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Production in the factory [...]

Inflation in the European Monetary Union continues to fall. In May the overall index for the EMU was flat after rising by just 0.1% in April and falling by 0.1% in March. The core reading excluding energy and unprocessed food fell by [...]

The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo improved to 49 this month from an unrevised from 45 in May. The latest figure was the highest since January and beat consensus expectations [...]

The Empire State Factory Index of General Business Conditions improved during June to 19.28 from 19.01 in May. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that it was the highest level since June 2010 and beat expectations for a [...]

The current account surplus in the European Monetary Union increased slightly in April as imports fell more sharply than exports, which also fell. The recent report on EMU industrial production showed that the European Union is making [...]