Economy in Brief: April 2017

Japan's industrial output has bounced strongly in February, gaining 3.2% after a 2.1% January drop and making gains in two of the last three months. Combined mining and manufacturing output has growth rates skimming along at or above [...]

In March, all of the original EMU members have at least reported headline inflation indexes except Austria which is left out of this table. What we see is that, as of March, Germany, the country traditionally running the lowest [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims slipped to 234,000 during the week ended April 8 (-9.3% y/y) from 235,000 in the prior week, revised from 234,000. It was the lowest level of claims in six weeks. Expectations had been for 245,000 [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index eased 0.1% during March after a 0.3% February rise. Nevertheless, the y/y increase of 2.2% was the strongest since March 2012. The monthly decline compared to expectations for no change [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that during March, the federal government ran a $176.2 billion budget deficit compared to a $108.0 billion deficit in March 2016. A $150.0 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 1.5% last week (-22.5% y/y) and reversed the prior week's decline. Refinancing applications remained steady (-40.0% y/y) following a 4.2% [...]

Japan's core machinery orders strip out the large lumpy projects that can dominate the series. The core orders are what's left. That series is up by 1.5% in February, reversing a 3.2% drop in January after a 2.1% increase in December. [...]

Import prices declined 0.2% (+4.2% y/y) during March following a 0.4% February increase, revised from 0.2%. A 0.3% fall had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures are not seasonally adjusted. Petroleum [...]