Economy in Brief: 2019

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell 1.5% in April (-2.0% year-on-year), reversing some of March’s 3.9% gain. Meanwhile, mortgage rates continue on their downtrend. The effective rate on a [...]

Gross domestic product, adjusted for price inflation, increased 3.1% during Q1'19, revised from 3.2%. Despite the revision, the 3.2% rate of growth during the last four quarters remained the strongest increase since Q2'15. The rise [...]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell 1.5% in April (-2.0% year-on-year), reversing some of March's 3.9% gain. Meanwhile, mortgage rates continue on their downtrend. The effective rate on a [...]

The labor market remains historically quite robust. Initial claims for unemployment insurance edged up 3,000 to 215,000 in week ended May 25, but remain around the lowest level in nearly six decades. The latest reading was in line [...]

Japan's trade deficit stays in place for the second month in a row although the deficit shrinks to 111 billion yen in April from 154 billion yen in March. Japan's average deficit measured over 12 months, six months and three months [...]

Since 2013, Italian inflation has consistently been lower than German inflation The table and chart chronicle some interesting circumstances for Italy. The chart shows that (as they say) ‘believe it or not!' Italian inflation has [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index declined 3.3% (+15.6% y/y) during the week ending May 24 and reversed the prior week's increase. The decline reflected a 6.0% drop (+29.3% y/y) in [...]

Retail gasoline prices fell three cents last week to $2.82 per gallon (-4.7% y/y), the third consecutive weekly decline. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally- [...]