Economy in Brief: 2018

Total business inventories increased 0.3% (4.4% y/y) during April following a 0.1% March slip. Total business sales rose 0.4% (6.7% y/y), following a 0.6% gain. The inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.35. It peaked early in 2016 [...]

Initial claims for unemployment insurance eased to 218,000 during the week ended June 9 from an unrevised 222,000 during the prior week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for a modest increase to 224,000 [...]

Consumers were in a shopping mood last month. Total retail sales increased 0.8% (5.9% y/y) during May following a 0.4% April gain, revised from 0.3%. It was the strongest monthly increase since November. A 0.4% rise had been expected [...]

Back in the high-life again? Inflation in Germany now exceeds the 2% mark. Inflation in the Euro Area at 1.9% is pretty much dead on target. The Euro-index has climbed to target quickly. In February it had sunk to a Year-on-Year [...]

Import prices increased 0.6% during May (4.3% year-on-year), the second consecutive monthly growth of that magnitude; April's gain was revised higher. A 0.4% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index using new methodology jumped 0.5% (3.1% y/y) during May following an unrevised 0.1% uptick in April. A 0.3% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The PPI [...]

At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the federal funds rate target was increased to a range between 1.75% and 2.00%. The financial markets had expected today's action as indicated in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Volume Index fell 1.5% last week (-17.5% y/y), following a 4.1% increase during the prior week. The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage increased [...]