Economy in Brief: March 2014

The Mortgage Bankers Association indicated that their total mortgage market index fell 2.1% last week (-54.7% y/y) following an upturn in the prior period. Applications remained 63.4% lower than the peak in September 2012. [...]

Prices in the energy complex firmed last week. The price for a gallon of regular gasoline increased to $3.51 (-5.3% y/y) last week, up 22 cents from the low four weeks ago. Nevertheless, prices remained below the $3.78 per gallon peak [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the job openings rate held at 2.8% versus an unrevised 2.8% in December. Earlier figures were revised slightly. The rate has moved [...]

Italian GDP edged up ever so slowly in the fourth quarter, registering a gain of 0.3% at an annual rate. Public consumption was up in the fourth quarter along with capital formation while net exports were a positive contributor as [...]

The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index declined sharply to 91.4 during February from 94.1 in January. The latest figure was the lowest since March of last year and was down 3.2% [...]

Food price increases in 2013 roughly equaled the gain in prices for other goods and services. Overall food prices rose 1.4% last year and for several months, the gain lagged the total. This was, however, a break with the trend in [...]

More countries in Europe reported industrial production with the net result showing an upswing in Europe. In January, only three of these early-reporting countries in the table showed declines in output. Finland's 4.6% drop was the [...]

The Federal Reserve Board reported that consumer credit outstanding increased $13.7 billion (5.8% y/y) during January following a $15.9 billion December gain, revised from $18.8 billion. The increase roughly matched expectations for a [...]