Economy in Brief: January 2019

The National Association of Realtors reported that its Composite Index of Home Affordability declined 10.6% y/y during November to 144.0. The index was one-third below its peak in January 2013. Month-to-month, home affordability [...]

The aggregated sector EMU totals for industrial production are not yet in, but there is a considerable country detail available and that shows widespread EMU weakness. Of the 11 EMU countries whose data are contained in the table, [...]

Prices remained under control during 2018. The Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1% in December (+1.9% y/y) following stability in November. It was the first decline in nine months and it matched expectations in the Action Economics [...]

The thrill is gone in France. In 2017, French manufacturing did exceptionally well, but it lost steam gradually in 2018 and at end-2018 the momentum is gone and output in manufacturing is falling for the third consecutive month. The [...]

Initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 216,000 (-13.6% y/y) during the week ended January 5 from 233,000 in the prior week, revised from 231,000. It was the lowest level of initial claims in four weeks. The Action Economics [...]

Household confidence in France fell to 87 in December from 91 in November. That leaves confidence at a rank standing in its 15.9 percentile on data back to 1990. All the readings deteriorated in the month or were unchanged. The only [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index jumped 23.5% (-7.0% y/y) during the week ended January 4 following three consecutive weeks of decline. Applications to purchase a home jumped 16.5% [...]

Consumers continue to expand their credit balances as employment increases. Consumer credit outstanding rose $22.16 billion during November following a $24.97 billion October gain, revised from $25.38 billion. Together, these two [...]