Economy in Brief

The graphics tell the story clearly enough. French industry and services indexes plunged and have since seen a substantial rebound. But even a substantial rebound leaves the levels of the indexes shy of where they had been – and by a [...]

• Loan applications for purchase ease. • Refinancing declines. • 15-year fixed-rate mortgage remains near seven-year low. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index backpedaled by 8.7% (+48.0% [...]

The Federal Reserve has a debt problem. It's not their debt. It's the record debt of the private and public sector that the Federal Reserve has helped fuel and sponsor during the pandemic crisis. Directly and indirectly, the Fed is [...]

The global recovery is gaining momentum just about everywhere – at least among these G-7 members, as the table below demonstrates. The lone exception is Japan where manufacturing actually worsened on the month. Everywhere else [...]

• New single-family home sales rose last month following three consecutive months of decline. • Sales improved in most parts of the country. • Prices increase modestly m/m. Sales of new single-family homes increased 16.6% during May [...]

• Gasoline prices strengthen as drivers take to the road. • Crude oil prices continue rising as demand improves worldwide. • Natural gas prices weaken further. The price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $2.13 per gallon [...]

• Existing home sales hit lowest since October 2010. • Sales fall across the nation. • Prices decline modestly. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of existing homes dropped 9.7% (-26.6% y/y) during May to [...]

The U.K. CBI survey responses are still weak in June. Total orders are stronger than their May vales but slightly weaker than their April value. But export orders continue to fall and they are still falling hard. Export diffusion [...]