Economy in Brief: 2014

The Index of Leading Economic Indicators, from the Conference Board, improved 0.5% during May (5.9% y/y), the fourth straight month of firm increase. The rise roughly matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey for a [...]

Initial jobless insurance claims declined to 312,000 during the week ended June 14 from 318,000 during the prior week, revised from 317,000. A 314,000 level of claims was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Claims [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index for June improved to 17.8 from 15.4 in May. The figure was the highest since September and beat consensus expectations for a decline to 13.9, [...]

There are not too many different ways to look at the ongoing weakness in Japan. All sectors are weakening and in all cases the drop off has been relatively severe. The headline index stands only in the 33rd percentile of its historic [...]

The U.S. current account deficit expanded sharply last quarter to $111.2 billion from $87.3 billion in Q4. It was the largest quarterly deficit since Q3 2012 and represented 2.6% of GDP. The Action Economics Forecast Survey called for [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed indicated that the economy, consumer spending, business investment and job creation each had improved. Two caveats, however, regarding growth were offered: the housing [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 9.2% last week (-45.8% y/y) and reversed the prior week's gain. Applications remained two-thirds below the peak in September 2012. [...]

The construction sector in the European Monetary Union backtracked in May. The index which already signaled contraction slipped to a weaker 43.3 in May from 44.4 in April. Diffusion indices signal expansion when their values exceed 50 [...]