Economy in Brief: 2012

For the whole of EU, the economic union, not just the monetary bloc, the economic sentiment index was flat in April. But for the monetary union the index fell by 1.7%. The index for Germany fell by 1%, France fell by 0.4% Italy’s [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending sales of single-family homes during March jumped 4.1% (12.8% y/y) following an upwardly revised 0.4% February uptick. The index level of 101.4 (2001=100) was the highest [...]

The National Activity Index (CFNAI) for March from the Chicago Federal Reserve fell to -0.29 from an upwardly revised 0.07 in February, earlier reported as -0.09. The three-month moving average reversed course last month and fell to [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims slipped 1,000 in the week ended April 21 to 388,000 from an upwardly revised 389,000 during the prior week, earlier reported as 386,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims rose to [...]

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee today left the Federal funds rate in a "range from 0 to 1/4 percent." The Fed funds rate has remained unchanged since late-2008 at its lowest level ever. The discount rate also was left [...]

UK GDP registered a -0.2% reading for 2012 Q1 showing that the economy has not yet been able to escape the pull of recession. The industrial orders series shows that weakness remains in train, but with a forward-looking twist. While [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of total mortgage applications fell 3.8% w/w to 697.7 (+58.1% y/y). Applications to refinance led the decline with a 5.6% drop (+89.2% y/y) and reversed half of the prior week's [...]

New orders for durable goods fell 4.2% last month following a little-revised 1.9% February increase. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.6% decline. Lower orders for transportation equipment led last month's decline with a 12.5% [...]