Economy in Brief

Personal consumption expenditures improved 0.3% (5.0% y/y) during December following an unrevised 0.4% November rise. The increase matched expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of 2019, consumer spending [...]

The table below excerpts from the full list of EMU members where only 6 of 18 reporting countries show declines in their EU Commission indexes in January (month-to-month) compared with 8 in December and 7 in November. The EMU index is [...]

The U.S. economy grew 2.1% (SAAR) during the fourth quarter of 2019. That roughly equaled the growth during the prior two periods and left it at 2.3% for all of 2019. It was the weakest quarterly rate of growth since 2016 and met the [...]

The U.S. economy grew 2.1% (SAAR) during the fourth quarter of 2019. That roughly equaled the growth during the prior two periods and left it at 2.3% for all of 2019. It was the weakest quarterly rate of growth since 2016 and met the [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined 7,000 to 216,000 during the week ended January 25. Claims were down 11.5% from a year ago. The previous week's figure was revised up to 223,000 from 211,000. The Action Economics [...]

The Federal Reserve kept the target range for the Federal funds rate at 1.50%-to-1.75% at today's FOMC meeting. The lack of action was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The decision was unanimous amongst FOMC voters. [...]

Germany's consumer confidence is projected to strengthen in February by the GfK survey as the climate gauge rises to 9.9 from 9.7 in January. The 9.9 reading is its strongest since June 2019 when it stood at 10.1. The top reading on [...]

U.S. pending home sales fell 4.9% (+4.6% y/y) during December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The shortfall was the second in the last three months. During all of 2019, the average index level of 105.7 was [...]