Economy in Brief

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index fell 1.9% (+33.8% y/y) during the week ending July 19, the fourth consecutive weekly decline. The drop reflected a 1.6% shortfall (+6.2% y/y) in [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes declined 1.7% in June (-2.2% y/y) to 5.270 million (SAAR) from 5.360 million during May, revised from 5.340 million. Sales remained 6.9% higher than the recent [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level rose to 24.6 in July from June’s 12.2. This partially reversed the June decrease from 28.1 in May. [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level declined to 12.2 during June.... The Philadelphia Fed figures are diffusion indexes which are [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that its House Price Index for home purchases inched 0.1% higher during May after an unrevised 0.4% April rise. It was the weakest m/m gain since January 2017 and lowered the y/y rate [...]

A plunge in orders vs. a slight uptick in expected output ahead Note that sustained divergences between these two series simply do not exist. Boris 'Hard-Brexit' Johnson, the new leader of the Conservative Party, will be the new Prime [...]

The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. backpedaled to $2.75 (-2.9% y/y) last week, reversing most of the prior week's rise to $2.78 per gallon. The price was near the middle of the range beginning in late-March. [...]

With the release of wholesale sales, we can look at and compare Canadian sector growth rates. Manufacturing sales were up strongly in May, but overall retailing, retail ex-autos and wholesale sales all declined. Wholesale sales fell [...]