Economy in Brief: 2013

The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its February National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to 0.44 from a downwardly revised -0.49 in January. Smoothing out the m/m volatility, the three-month moving average deteriorated to 0.09, its [...]

Germany's widely respected IFO business climate index turned slightly lower unexpectedly in March. Rising confidence abated, business expectations took a small setback and the climate cooled. The table chronicles a sector diffusion [...]

The employment market continues to firm. The Labor Department reported that layoffs of 50 or more persons from a single firm fell to 960 during February, near the cycle's low. That comes on the heels of a 7.8% decline to 17,080 during [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) rose another 0.6% during January following three consecutive months of similar increase. The 6.5% y/y rise was its strongest since the middle of 2006; it [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes improved 0.8% (10.2% y/y) during February to a 4.98M annual rate. The increase followed an upwardly revised 0.8% January rise. The latest fell short of [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported that its General Business Conditions Index rebounded during March to 2.0. That followed an unrevised sharp February decline to -12.5. Haver Analytics constructs a seasonally adjusted [...]

The index of Leading Economic Indicators, published by the Conference Board, increased 0.5% (2.0% y/y) during February after a revised 0.5% January increase, initially reported as 0.2%. Eighty percent of the component series had a [...]

The EMU PMIs for March have turned lower, after a short hopeful push higher. The services sector is pretty much without upward momentum as the chart plainly shows. Its recent bump up is really nothing more than that, a bump. But even [...]