Economy in Brief: July 2016

Initial unemployment insurance claims held steady at 254,000 (-8.6% y/y) during the week ended July 9. It was the lowest level since mid-April and near a record low. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 265,000 claims. The [...]

EMU area and country level inflation continues to coalesce around the zero mark as it has since late 2014. There are hints of inflation divergence cropping us as the chart shows Italian inflation moving even lower while German [...]

The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index increased 0.5% (0.3% y/y) in June following an unrevised 0.4% May gain. It was the quickest rise since May of last year. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]

So far in FY'16, the federal government's budget deficit totaled $400.8 billion, up 26.7% versus $316.4 billion in the first nine months of FY'15. That result was highlighted in today's U.S. Treasury Department report of a $6.3 [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 7.2% last week, up roughly two-thirds y/y, to the highest level since June 2013. The rise was driven by an 11.2% increase in refinancing [...]

Euro area industrial output fell by 1.3% in May, giving back most of the gains from April's previously impressive 1.4% rise. However, April was preceded by a 0.8% drop so that on balance EMU area IP is lower at a 2.8% annual rate over [...]

Import prices rose 0.2% (-4.8% y/y) during June following a 1.4% surge in May. It was the smallest increase since a decline in February and fell short of expectations for a 0.5% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These [...]

Inventories at the wholesale level notched 0.1% higher during May following a 0.7% April increase, revised from 0.6%. Nondurable goods sector inventories rose 0.2% (4.9% y/y) after a 1.6% jump. Farm-product inventories were strong [...]