Economy in Brief

Initial applications for unemployment insurance rose to 225,000 (+0.3% y/y) during the week ended November 9 from 211,000 in the prior week, which was unrevised. The latest week is hardly a large number, but it is the highest since [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government ran a $134.5 billion budget deficit during October compared to a $100.5 billion deficit twelve months earlier. Budget receipts fell 2.8% y/y while outlays rose 7.6% [...]

EMU area IP ticked up by the smallest amount in September, rising by 0.1% after August's 0.4% gain. Still, in the just completed quarter, IP is falling at a 3.5% annual rate. Manufacturing output is up for two months running by 0.4% [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its Mortgage Loan Index strengthened 9.6% (79.5% y/y) in the week ending November 8 after easing 0.1% w/w in the previous week. Purchase applications increased 5.1% w/w (14.8% y/y) and [...]

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% (1.8% y/y) during October following stability in September. It was the largest increase since March. Expectations had been for a 0.3% rise in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The CPI [...]

Retail gasoline prices edged higher to $2.62 per gallon last week (-2.6% y/y) from $2.61 in the previous week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally-adjusted [...]

The ZEW survey in November has month-to-month increases in most macroeconomic, interest rate and stock market readings. But it is not just this breadth that is impressive; it is the breadth on top of a strong change in individual [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported that its Small Business Optimism Index rose 0.6% (-4.7% y/y) to 102.4 during October and recovered half of the September decline. The index remained near its recent low, [...]