Economy in Brief

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped 37,000 to 230,000 (9.5% year-on-year) during the week ended April 20 from a slightly upwardly-revised 50-year low of 193,000 in the previous week (was 192,000). The Action Economics [...]

The German IFO gauge fell month-to-month to 6.5 in April from 8.7 in March in its diffusion presentation. The headline was last weaker for one month in February 2016. It was weaker for a series of four months in a row ending December [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index decreased 7.3% (+6.8% y/y) during the week ending April 19. It was the third consecutive weekly drop. Applications to purchase a home fell 4.1% [...]

Japan's money supply is showing no change in its rate of growth across its various measures. The respective 12-month and three-month growth rates are nearly identical for M1, M2 and M3 although each aggregate weakens slightly over six [...]

New home sales increased 4.5% (3.0% y/y) during March to 692,000 (AR) following a rise to 662,000 in February, revised from 667,000. It was the highest level of sales since November 2017 and up from the low of 552,000 this past [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases rose 0.3% in February following an unrevised 0.6% January increase. The 4.9% y/y increase was the weakest since early-2015, down from a 7.6% high early in 2018. [...]

Retail gasoline prices edged one penny higher last week to $2.84 per gallon last week (1.5% y/y). The uptick followed four months of strong increase. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 4.9% (-5.4% y/y) during March to 5.210 million units (SAAR). The decline reversed half of February's strengthening to 5.480 million units, revised from [...]