Economy in Brief: 2013

The home mortgage market looks somewhat different given the recent surge in interest rates. The effective rate on a 15-year mortgage rose to 3.42% last week, up 53 basis points from early May and the highest level since April 2012. [...]

Industrial output slipped in April in the UK even as it showed signs of getting some traction. Consumer durables output dropped and intermediate goods output fell by a relatively sharp 2.1% in April. These drops were partly offset by [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its April Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the job openings rate slipped m/m to 2.7% from an unrevised 2.8% in March. The job openings rate is the number of job openings on [...]

The price of regular gasoline notched up last week to $3.66 per gallon, up 2.3% versus last year. Prices remain below the $3.78 per gallon peak reached late in February. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for [...]

Small businesses are feeling better about the prospects for growth. The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index increased further during May to a seasonally adjusted 94.4 from 92.1. [...]

Usage of consumer credit picked up in April but trend growth remained moderate, according to the Federal Reserve. Credit grew $11.1B (5.9% y/y) following an $8.4B increase during March, initially reported as $8.0B. These increases [...]

Capital goods output pushed German IP ahead, by rising by 4% in April and extending a streak of strong numbers. Overall German IP is up at a 15.1% pace over three-months (1.8% in April) and is on an acceleration tear (see table). [...]

Nonfarm payroll employment increased 175,000 (1.6% y/y) during May. That followed revised gains of 149,000 and 142,000 during the prior two months, earlier reported as 165,000 and 138,000, respectively. Consensus expectations were for [...]