Economy in Brief

The CBI orders fell sharply in May and were last weaker in October 2016. That observation is an outlier. But from October 2015 through April 2016, orders were persistently weaker than their current reading. Export orders fell more [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level fell to 28.1 during May after rising slightly in April. These figures remain below the high of 45.7 [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during April eased 0.4% (-4.4% y/y) to 5.190 million units (SAAR) after an unrevised March decline to 5.210 million. It was the lowest level of sales in three [...]

Retail gasoline prices eased another two cents last week to $2.85 per gallon (-2.4% y/y) after falling slightly during the prior week. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its National Activity index fell to -0.45 during April after rising to 0.05 in March. Continuing to decline was the three-month moving average to -0.32, its lowest point since May [...]

Last week's report that factory sector output fell again in April helps shed light on the recent weakness in industrial commodity prices. The Industrial Materials Price Index from the Foundation for International Business and Economic [...]

Japan's real GDP was expected to shrink in Q1 2019 but managed to post a solid expansion instead. A progression of slowing GDP growth rates saw GDP kick back up in Q1 2019, logging a gain at a 2.1% annualized rate in the quarter and a [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its National Activity index fell to -0.45 during April, after rising to 0.05 in March. Remaining negative was the three-month moving average, declining to -0.32, its lowest point since [...]