Economy in Brief: February 2014

The chart shows industrial production in the euro area has moved up sharply. It is beginning to challenge the growth rate of production in the United States -or at least it was. Despite this broad move higher by European output, in [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total mortgage market index declined 2.0% last week (-50.1% y/y). Applications to purchase a home fell 5.0% (-12.2% y/y) while applications to refinance a loan slipped 0.2% (-60.8% [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index improved to 94.1 during January from 93.9 in December. The latest figure remained down slightly from the May high of 94.4. For all of last [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that during all of last year its Housing Affordability Composite Index declined to 178.6, the lowest level since 2010. For December, the index slipped further to 168.1 from 170.90 during [...]

Here's another sign of improvement in the U.S. labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that for all of last year the job openings rate improved to 2.8%, its highest [...]

This winter's severely cold temperatures around the U.S. continued to strengthen natural gas prices. Last week's average of $6.39 per mmbtu nearly doubled last year's level and was the highest since January 2010. Yesterday, prices [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index improved to 94.1 during January from 93.9 in December. The latest figure remained down slightly from the May high of 94.4. For all of last [...]

In December we identify nine key members of the European Monetary Union and find that industrial output is falling. The overall euro area measure is not yet available. In December we find four output declines among these nine [...]