Economy in Brief: April 2021

• Strength is broad-based as consumers venture into stores. • Durable goods are notably firm. • Earlier months' data were little-revised. Improved weather, a strong employment gain, $1,400 stimulus checks and store re-openings [...]

• IP rose 1.4% m/m with manufacturing output up 2.7% and mining up 5.7%. • Utilities plunged 11.4% after the cold-weather boosted 9.2% surge in February. • In the first quarter, IP rose 2.5% saar. Industrial production rebounded in [...]

• Strong gains are reported for all components. • Prices paid and prices received surged in April. The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions jumped 9 points to 26.3, up from 17.4 in March, and well surpassing [...]

• Import costs are unexpectedly strong. • Export price gain picks up. Import prices increased 1.2% (6.9% y/y) during March following a little-revised 1.3% February rise. A 0.9% increase had been expected in the Action Economics [...]

Industrial production fell by 1% in February in the euro area. Consumer goods output ticked higher while the output of capital goods and intermediate goods fell. Of the 12 early-reporting EMU countries listed in the table, seven [...]

• Import costs are unexpectedly strong. • Export price gain picks up. Import prices increased 1.2% (6.9% y/y) during March following a 1.3% February rise. A 0.9% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]

• Purchase and refinancing applications fall. • Mortgage interest rates ease. The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 3.7% (-13.4% y/y) in the week ended April 9, the sixth consecutive weekly decline. [...]

Italian Production Italian industrial output in manufacturing rose for the third month in a row. The three-month annualized gain at 4.8% is just about the mirror image of the six-month decline at 5.4%. Over 12 months, Italian IP is [...]