Economy in Brief: 2019

Import prices fell 0.9% (-2.0% y/y) in June following an upwardly revised unchanged reading in May (initially reported as a 0.3% m/m decline). The June decline was larger than the 0.6% m/m decline expected in the Action Economics [...]

Industrial production was flat during June (+1.3% year-on-year) following an unrevised 0.4% gain in May. April was revised down slightly to -0.5% from -0.4%. The Action Economics Survey forecast a 0.2% gain in June. Manufacturing [...]

The pump price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. increased to $2.78 per gallon (-3.0% y/y) from $2.74 in the previous week. It was the highest price since early-June. Haver Analytics adjusts for the seasonal variation in gasoline [...]

Irish exports and imports both have decelerated sharply from their respective paces of early-2018. Both have posted relatively recent year-on-year growth rates that have dipped below zero. However, as of May, it is exports where [...]

The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions rose to 4.3 during July after deteriorating sharply in June to -8.6, the first negative index level since October 2016. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected [...]

The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.1% during June (1.7% y/y) for the second straight month. The rise matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Producer prices excluding food & energy increased 0.3% [...]

EMU industrial production jumped in May. After falling for straight four months, EMU IP jumped in January 2019, then was flat in February, fell for two more months in a row, and now it is up by 0.9% month-to-month logging only its [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that its Mortgage Fixed Rate Index of Home Affordability declined 1.4% during May (+5.6% y/y). Affordability stood 29.5% below the peak level during January 2013. The fixed rate mortgage [...]