Economy in Brief: 2018

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index retreated to 19.9 during June, its lowest level since November 2016. Expectations had been for a reading of 28.9 in the Action [...]

The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators improved 0.2% (6.1% y/y) during May after an unrevised 0.4% April rise, which was the same as during March. The latest monthly gain fell short of expectations for a [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 218,000 during the week ended June 16, down from 221,000 in the prior week, which was revised from 218,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey called for 221,000 claims [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices nudged 0.1% higher (6.4% y/y) during April after a 0.2% March rise, revised from 0.1%. Over the past three months, prices have risen at a 4.7% annual rate, down [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 0.4% (-3.0% y/y) during May to 5.430 million units (AR) following a 2.7% April decline to 5.450 million units, revised from 5.460 million. It was the [...]

Germany has a history of being ‘unreasonable’ about inflation. In the interwar period with the development of hyper-inflation, Germans developed a strong aversion to even a whiff of inflation. So Germany, nationally and down to [...]

The U.S. current account deficit rose to $124.1 billion during Q1 2018 from $116.1 billion in Q4 2017. It was the largest deficit since Q4 2008. The Q1 deficit compared to $129.0 billion expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

Retail gasoline prices slipped to $2.88 per gallon last week (+24.2% y/y) from $2.91 per gallon during the prior week. Prices stood at the lowest level in five weeks. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal [...]